LAKE AN2ST REAM 
GAME FISHING 

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DIXIE CARROLL 




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The author and a 12% pound wall-eye pike caught in Black Lake, 
McNaughton, Wisconsin. This pike was caught on a hot July day about 
11.30 a. m. and the lure used was a Heddon's underwater Dowagiac 
crackled green back with a white belly. The cast was made across the 
mouth of a small bay and the lure reeled slowly in order to allow it to 
sink. The water was of an average depth of twenty feet. 

(From painting by Arthur Hutchins) 



LAKE AND STREAM 
GAME FISHING 

A Practical Book on the Popular Fresh- Water 

Game Fish, the Tackle Necessary and 

How to Use It 

BY 

DIXIE CARROLL 

Editor of the National Sportsman and 
Fishing Editor of the Chicago Herald 
President, American Anglers League 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 

JAMES KEELEY 
Editor of the Chicago Herald 

AND A FOREWORD BY 

JACK LAIT 



VERSE BY 

ALBERT JAY COOK 



CINCINNATI 

STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 

1917 



6* 






Copyright, 1917, by 

STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 

All Rights Reserved 

Copyright in England 



/ 

JUN 18 1917 



Q CI. A 4 6746 7 






TO 
MY WIFE, ROSE, 

WHO IS EQUALLY AS GOOD A "PAL' 
ON WILDERNESS LAKE, STREAM OR 
TRAIL, AS ALONG THE WELL- 
BEATEN PATHS OF 
CIVILIZATION 



PREFACE 

In writing this book of fish, fishing, tackle and how 
to use it, as well as incidental remarks on equipment 
it is not the intention of the writer to set it up on a 
pinnacle as a " hollier than thou " book. Opinions 
on tackle and the method of using it are varied and 
at times wonderful. There are purists in every 
angle of the sport and by each method of angling the 
purist in that particular line will swear by the nine 
gods and at times swear at all other methods. 

I have never allied myself to any one particular 
part of angling. I can have equally as much enjoy- 
ment from tossing the plug, live bait or feathery fly. 
As long as it is fishing in a sportsman-like manner 
with line, rod and reel and playing the fish until it 
comes up to the net or gaff, white-side up, I con- 
sider the game true sport and worthy of just con- 
sideration. 

As to the methods of angling and the handling of 
tackle advocated herein, they are the methods that 
I have found to be successful from actual experiences 
of my own or from the experiences of other fisher- 
men with whom I have cast and whipped lake and 
stream. 

As to the information on the habits and peculiari- 
ties of the different game fish, this I have accumulated 
since my early fishing days passed on the Potomac 



PREFACE 

and its tributaries, and from close association with 
keen guides and woodsmen of the North Woods 
country. 

I feel that the fishing game is on the verge of be- 
coming the most popular of out-door's sports and it 
can be made so, not only for the present day, but for 
the years to come, if the fishermen will follow the 
creed of the American Anglers League of which I 
have the honor of being president. This creed fol- 
lows and I earnestly hope all fishermen will burn this 
thought into their memory and in time of need, ob- 
serve it. 

Our Creed: to encourage the re-stock- 
ing of lakes and streams; to advocate the 
observing of all fishing laws ; to throw back 
uninjured the under-sized fish; to catch 
game fish in a sportsmanlike manner with 
rod, line and reel, in order to make the 
sport of fishing better in the years that fol- 
low. 

To the keen followers of the call of lake and 
stream with whom I have passed many pleasant 
hours and learned much, I wish to express my thanks. 
Particularly to Earny Wendt, Guide Extraordinary 
of the North Woods ; to Albert Jay Cook, sportsman, 
poet and apostle of the great out-doors whose verses 
are used in this book; to Robert Hurt Moulton, 
fisherman, journalist and photographer for a selec- 



PREFACE 

tion of photographs used in this book; to James 
Keeley, fisherman, sportsman and editor for his loy- 
alty to the sport of fishing and his mental storehouse 
of fishing lore from which I have drawn many facts 
as fishing editor of the Chicago Herald and for 
writing the Introduction of this book; to Jack Lait 
not a fisherman but a writer of human interest stories 
with a kick in every line and thoughts between the 
lines, for writing the Foreword of this book; to 
W. W. Stehle, " Buck " to his many out-door pals, 
fisherman, hunter and soldier, to whom these chap- 
ters were originally written as a series of letters on 
fishing and who preserved and returned them to the 
writer for revision and use in this book. 

If this book makes the sport of fishing more en- 
joyable and quest of the game fins more successful 
for the reader, then it will have accomplished the 
end for which it was written. 

If it makes of the uninitiated, a lover of the great 
out-doors and a follower of natures water trails 
and takes him out where he can get a close-up of 
old Mother Nature, then its writing will be doubly 
blessed. 

"Timberedge Lodge," (Carroll Blaine Cook) 

McNaughton, Wis. 
October, 1916. 



INTRODUCTION 

The would-be teacher of the art of angling must 
ever be a pupil. Every day on stream or lake, in 
waters or in boat, is a lesson, and though one ac- 
cumulates the experience of a quarter of a century 
his education is not complete and never would be 
complete if he lived to be as old as the prehistoric 
fish we find in neolithic rock. Each cast may present 
a new problem. Each strike a situation for which 
there is no " rule " or precedent. 

Experience is the real teacher and to the novice 
generally a costly one. 

Nevertheless there is a field for instruction and 
the experience of an " old timer " will be of value 
to those who are new to the sport and even to veter- 
ans of the rod whose range of effort has been cir- 
cumscribed. 

If a man has, year after year, tramped little-fre- 
quented trails, and blazed new ones for himself; if 
he has sought out and found the streams where the 
brook trout rises most readily to the fly, the pools 
where lurk the largest salmon, the favorite haunts 
of the bass, the wall-eyed pike and the muskellunge, 
and if he has matched his wits against all of these 



INTRODUCTION 

under every condition of weather and with every 
kind of lure and tackle, then he is qualified to impart 
useful information on the subject. 

In the whole field of sport there is, perhaps, no 
thrill comparable with that which comes of doing 
fair battle with a gamey fish; he is a worthy oppo- 
nent for any man, and through all the stages of the 
contest, from the first fierce strike to the final sweep 
of the landing net, the red blood surges and the 
nerves tingle in wholesome exhilaration. 

But, while victory is sweet to the angler, and 
naturally is his first aim, the mere catching of fish is 
not all of fishing by any means. The true fisherman 
does not measure his success either by the size or 
number of the fish he gets, and even if he gets none 
at all, his days still are full of profitable pleasure. 
To him every minute in the woods or on the waters 
offers something of interest, whether it be merely 
watching the wild people of the forest, the sunsets 
and sunrises, the starry map overhead at night, or 
listening to the call of birds, the wind in the trees, 
or the musical lap of waters. 

Chicago, February 24, 19 17. 

J. Keeley. 



FOREWORD 

Dear Dixie: 

They tell me you're doing a book on " Lake and 
Stream Game Fishing." Since I never fished for 
game in either lake or stream, and since one of the 
best things I do is to write learnedly on that which I 
know nothing about, let me give you a little advice : 

In writing fishing stories one should follow the 
mechanics of story-telling, just the same as in writing 
love stories. Fish are more human than the people 
about whom romances are written, though, of course, 
they fall down when it comes to " problems " or 
" triangles," for I never heard of a scandal under 
water except the famous submarine controversy. 

Look at the latitude you have, though, on other 
standard topics for stirring tales — motherhood, for 
instance. Motherhood is the most sure-fire of all 
the subdivisions in the selective acreage of story-stuff. 
And a mother-fish, I am told, has a yield at each con- 
ception that would stagger Roosevelt. Can't you 
see the possibilities here for racking tales of Mrs. 
Fish and her brood — or are children of a fish called 
a " flock"? In either event, the maternal muskel- 
longe or the parent bass or the like holds forth, in my 



FOREWORD 

vision, fiction possibilities on a large and shiny scale. 

I see that the prospectus announces " Not a dry 
line in the whole book." Of course not; you can't 
hook fish-story-readers with dry lines. Therefore, 
I pray you, get off the conventional themes such as 
how to take the spear out of the ribs of a gar when 
what you wanted was a pike, or how to properly bait 
with live frogs when the guide forgot the pail of 
frogs on the pier. What you want to do, I fancy, 
is to go into the psychology, the sociology, the tem- 
perament, the emotions, the heart-throbs, the ambi- 
tions, the disappointments, the better nature of the 
fish. 

What do we know to-day of the mental progress of 
the fish? Little if anything. Are we then to pre- 
sume that the wily bass and the ferocious musky of 
19 17 are as benighted as the sucker of the year of 
the big wind? Is there, then, no Bryan of the finny 
realm, no Mrs. Pankhurst of the angled deeps, no 
wall-eyed Lloyd-George and no big-mouthed Ford 
amongst them? 

The unwritten material is enormous, magnificent. 
What is the politics of a pickerel? What is the re- 
ligion of a trout? What are the morals of carp? 
Is the conscience of an eel anything like that of a 
munitions maker? 

Speak, you who know the sweet language of fish, 
and do for us a " Hiawatha " of the underlakes, a 
" Gunga Din " of the river bed! 



FOREWORD 

Teach us not only how to catch the elusive citizens 
of the blue, but lead us into communion with them so 
that we can do more than merely dangle them on a 
hunk of string and fry them in a pan. We want to 
civilize them and assimilate them so that we can sell 
them stock in new moving-picture companies and lead 
them by the flipper to walks of our own making 
where we would unfold to them the mysteries of 
how to blow a safe or carry an election. 

Before you lies the chance of being the uplifter of 
the fish. You alone may play the famous white 
man's part in unfolding before the gullible children 
of the wet recesses the manna of the earth — suf- 
frage, booze, evangelism, advanced thinking, Robert 
W. Chambers, five-card stud, the bunny hug, nude 
films, Democratic victories, tax-dodging, taxi-dodg- 
ing — there's no end to what a fish doesn't know and 
what we members in good standing of the order of 
brotherly love are hep to. 

Therefore, I beseech you, Dixie, do not again 
bend your superior talents to the paltry and sordid 
pursuit of telling how to nab a fish for breakfast; 
take your stylus well in hand and write us a guide- 
book on how to teach a fish to take a joke so that 
we may live long and increase our percentage. 

With every good wish, always, 

Your friend the piscatorial ignoramus, 

Jack Lait. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Bait-Casting Outfit for the Beginner ... i 

Bait-Casting for the Beginner 7 

Split-Bamboo Bait-Casting Rods 12 

Steel Bait-Casting Rods and Others . . . . 17 

The Bait-Casting Reel 21 

Self-Th umbers vs. Backlashes 26 

The Level- Winding Reel 31 

Bait-Casting Lines 36 

Spoons and Spinners 40 

Wobblers, Wigglers and Plugs 44 

Night Bait-Casting 49 

On the Home-Life of the Bass 54 

Fly-Casting Tackle for the Beginner ... 58 

On Learning Fly-Casting 62 

His Majesty the Brook Trout 67 

Rainbows and Browns ... ..... 71 

Fly-Casting for Bass • . . 76 

On Fishing the Dry-Fly 81 

Bass in the Rivers and Streams 86 

Goin' After Musky 90 

His Honor, the Wall-Eyed Pike . . . . -95 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Just Ordinary Ol' Pickerel ioo 

A Little Pan-Fish Fun 105 

Live Bait — The Minnow no 

Worms as Bait 115 

Pork Rind for Bait 120 

Trolling 124 

Fall Fishing 129 

Musky, Pike or Pickerel? 133 

Tips from the Guides 138 

Hot Weather Fishing 143 

Little Points that Count 148 

What Makes 'Em Do It 153 

Complete Record of the Landing of Fifty Large- 
Mouth Bass. The Time, the Weather and 

the Bait 157 

Complete Record of the Landing of Fifty Large 

MUSKALONGE. The TlME, THE WEATHER AND 

the Bait 165 

From Strike to Gaff. Stories of Big Fish as 
Told by Their Captors 176 

One Hundred Questions and Answers on 
Tackle, Fish and Fishing ....... 204 

Poems of the Water Trails 236 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

The Author and a Fine Wall-eyed Pike . . Frontispiece 

PAGE 

The Time o' Day for Fishing 31 

Large and Small-Mouth Bass 54 

Good Stream Bass Waters 86 

The Lady and the Musky go 

Fine Lake Bass Waters no 

Earny Wendt, Guide Extraordinary 138 

Game Beauties from Northern Wisconsin . . . .153 

Cozy Corners for Bass 176 

Joys of the Water Trails , , , , , . . .236 



LAKE AND STREAM 
GAME FISHING 

BAIT-CASTING OUTFIT FOR THE 
BEGINNER 

So you are sure stumped, Old Man, when it comes 
to getting together a bait-casting outfit. Been hit- 
ting her up with the old cane pole and any old hook 
or line, and getting the fish, but every time you pass 
a tackle layout in a sporting goods store, your hands 
fairly itch to swing one of those short bait-casting 
rods, and then you sorta hold back, 'cause you don't 
just know what's really needed and you sure don't 
want to tip off your hand to the fellow on the " in- 
side " that you are shy on tackle dope. 

Slip this into your card index: you can get a fine 
outfit together for $12 to $15 that will give you rat- 
tling good service and, at that, be a line of tackle 
that you need never be ashamed of. It'll stand up 
under the hard knocks that you probably will hand it 
and, with a little practice, will get you fish for your 
stringer. At the same time it will make a good 
showing with any other fellow's tackle, unless, of 
course, he happens to be a " he-whop " for coin and 
overdoes the tackle stunt. 



2 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 
ROD EITHER SPLIT BAMBOO OR STEEL 

For a rod it can be either split bamboo or steel 
and between 5 and 5 ]/ 2 feet in length. In split bam- 
boo you can get a good one for $4 to $7, and for a 
choice, medium-priced rod there is none better than 
a Jim Heddon's No. 4, which comes with an extra 
tip and sets you back $5. This rod should give you 
at least five years' good service and as it is a two- 
piece rod, long tip and short butt, it works almost 
as good as a single-piece one, which is considered 
the ideal rod, but a darned unhandy one to tote 
around. The two-piece rod is a fine bender, with- 
out straining at the ferrule, which is below the cen- 
ter, well to the butt, and is full of snap and whip. 
The price is low, but the rod is good. 

For the rod, if you select a steel one, you will 
make no mistake in getting a Bristol No. 25, which 
is sure some bait-caster. The steel rod is strong 
and durable and this Bristol is just stiff enough to 
make long casts with precision and whippy enough 
to make a short cast with ease. The reel seat is 
close to the grip, which makes thumbing the reel less 
tiring. The extra large guides and tip are an aid 
to casting, as the line shoots out freely without much 
friction on the guides. This rod costs you $7, but 
you will always keep it in your kit, even after you 
go in for the more expensive stuff. 



BAIT-CASTING OUTFIT FOR BEGINNER 3 
REEL IS THE HEAVY WORKER 

For a reel you will want a quadruple multiplying, 
or, in other words, " old hoss," one that makes four 
revolutions of the core of the reel to one turn of the 
handle — that's for speed in giving you casting dis- 
tance and also to retrieve the line quickly with the 
smallest amount of hand work. 

By far the biggest end of the bait-casting work 
depends upon the reel, which is the most important 
item in the outfit. The average day's fishing runs 
about six hours of continuous casting, at all of which 
time the reel is hard at work playing out line and 
recovering it. This is a steady grind and the reel 
must be a good one to stand up under the strain. 
This only goes to show that a poorly constructed 
reel will shortly throw up the sponge with a few 
wheezy shrieks, and about that time, far away from 
a tackle outfitter, you will let out a few choice cuss 
words and give it the Christy Mathewson into the 
weed beds. 

There are many good reels that you can get, rang- 
ing from $4 to $7.50, and they will all do the work 
and do it well. The Meisselbach " take-a-part " is 
a humdinger and creases your bank roll to the ex- 
tent of $5.50. I have a " take-a-part " in my kit, 
been there doing service for eight years and is still 
on the job; as a matter of fact I think it has done 



4 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

more casting than any of my reels. It is built right 
and if you just must find out what makes it go, you 
can take it apart without a screw driver and put 'er 
together again and know that you cannot mix its " in- 
nards." For this reason alone the inquisitive fisher- 
man should have it, because a reel can be put out of 
whack easier by tinkering than most anything. 

The Shakespeare Standard Professional is a clean 
running reel and nicks you to the tune of $6, but it's 
worth it and a good caster. The Milan, Meek and 
Talbot reels around the same figure are very good 
ones, and are worthy of a place in any tackle box. 

GOOD-BY TO BACK-LASHES 

If you are shy on time to practice thumbing the 
ordinary reel, and you don't want to bother with 
" back-lashes," which happen more or less to even 
the sure-enough fishermen, you can get an antiback- 
lash reel and start casting with practically no prac- 
tice. The South Bend Antiback-lash at $9.00 and 
the Pflueger-Redifor Antiback-lash at $7.50 are both 
good ones, and take a lot of trouble off your hands. 
For moonlight and night casting you will find the 
antiback-lash a winner, and that is the time to hook 
the big ones. It's mighty unhandy to try to untangle 
a back-lash by the light of a pocket flash lamp, espe- 
cially when the bass are hopping up out of the water 
all around you; sort of makes you nervous, and the 
more you untangle the worse it tangles. 



BAIT-CASTING OUTFIT FOR BEGINNER 5 

For a line, get a fifty-yard spool of waterproof 
soft square braided silk No. 6, which runs freely 
from the reel and with the least amount of friction 
on the guides and is easily thumbed without burning. 
A Kingfisher line of this kind will cost you 80c and 
it will not get fuzzy nor swell up when wet. 

ARTIFICIAL PLUGS AND WOBBLERS 

Of lures or artificial baits there are legions and 
they range in price from 10c up. Some are worth 
it and some are not. You'll probably want to buy 
every one you see, and try 'em out. That's part of 
the game, but for a starter the following will make 
a selection in color and style that ought to interest 
any old bass or other game fish : A Jamison Coaxer 
at 50c; Heddon's Crab Wiggler, 85c; Tango Min- 
now, white with red top, 75c; South Bend Bass- 
Oreno, rainbow color, 50c; Wilson Fluted Wob- 
bler, green crackled back, 75c; Pflueger-Surprise 
minnow, white with green back, 75c. This gives 
you a collection of lures at $4.10 that contains every 
kind of a wiggle, wobble, dive or other movement 
in the deck and if you keep them moving when in 
the water, there is no reason why any high-brow bass 
won't strike them out of pure inquisitiveness — just 
to see what makes 'em do it. 

For your pork rind, frogs and live minnows you 
will need a few spinners and spoons. Get a Hilde- 
brandt, single and tandem, Slim Eli No. 3, and a 



6 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

couple of Skinners new casting spoons 4-x, bright 
nickel and white enamel and a Foss Pork Rind Min- 
now. These will cost you around 75c and give you 
enough variety for a start at natural bait-casting. 

With a couple of little odds and ends such as 
sinkers, extra hooks and an oil can, you have a bait 
casting outfit that should help you " bring home the 
bacon." 



BAIT-CASTING FOR THE BEGINNER 

For your practice work, or rather the back-yard 
casting, before you try out the real stuff, all you need 
of your bait-casting tackle is your rod, which can be 
of steel or split bamboo, and either a 5 or 5^4 footer 
as you prefer; 50-yard spool of waterproof soft 
square braided silk No. 6 line; a quadruple multi- 
plying reel, and a casting plug. For the latter you 
can detach the hooks from an artificial bait, and thus 
avoid hooking a pal who may be there to give you 
a send off, or you can get a practice casting weight, 
which is a hookless minnow the same weight as the 
average plug. 

Joint your rod and place the reel in the reel seat 
right above the grip, with the reel on top of the rod, 
reel handle to the right. Run the line through the 
tip and guides, wind it evenly on the reel and loop 
on the plug at the end. 

At a distance of say 30 feet from the spot where 
you intend to stand while making the cast, peg down 
a small piece of paper, say about eight inches square, 
for a target. Imagine this is the home of a fine 
frisky bass, it adds to the interest of the game. 

CASTING LIKE SWITCHING APPLES 

You recall how you doted on switching apples in 

7 



8 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

the old orchard, when a kid. You'd push your 
switch through a nice, juicy apple, swing it back 
over your shoulder, sweep it forward, and away flew 
the apple which you hoped would land on Fatty 
Jones' skypiece. Well, Old Man, outside of the 
thumbing of the reel, that's the motion of bait-cast- 
ing — just downright ordinary switching apples. 

You are all ready now, so get in the box, 30 feet 
from the target, and face it. Take the rod in your 
right hand, let the plug hang down about six inches 
from the tip, the reel on top with the thumb pressing 
on the line wound on the spool of the reel, and the 
fingers of course around the grip of the rod. Before 
bringing the rod back over the shoulder to start the 
cast, twist the wrist to the left enough to bring the 
top of the reel towards your body, and the spool of 
the reel nearly vertical. In this position swing the 
rod back over the right shoulder until the plug hangs 
on a line with your belt. The rod will then be at 
about a 45 degree angle with the ground, and your 
hand near your right ear. This much is for posi- 
tion, and the cast starts from this point, differing 
therein from fly-casting which starts from the first 
upward sweep. 

KEEP THUMB PRESSURE ON REEL 

From this position swing the rod forward with a 
swift firm sweep, increasing the speed as the rod 
swings forward — all this time the thumb pressure 



BAIT-CASTING FOR THE BEGINNER 9 

stays on the line wound on the reel. As the rod 
sweeps to a perpendicular position, release the thumb 
pressure — but not entirely — and out shoots the 
plug carrying the line from the reel. 

Keep your eye on the plug, although it's a hundred 
to one shot that you will watch the reel instead. 
While the plug is still in the air and just before it 
hits the ground, press the thumb down firmly on the 
reel, which stops it from revolving. If you fail to 
do this, Old Man, the reel will keep on turning from 
its momentum, and having no heavy plug in the air 
to pull it along, the line will snarl up on the reel and 
you will be introduced to your first " back-lash," with 
which you will become well acquainted, anyway, as 
you get along in the game. 

If your plug did a pretty flight straight up in the 
air, you released your thumb pressure before the rod 
was perpendicular, and if it did a Brodie right down 
into the ground in front of you, then you failed to 
release the thumb pressure soon enough. Remem- 
ber this point: the thumb pressure is never entirely 
removed from the line on the reel and the lighter 
pressure on the line keeps a " pull " on the bait and 
prevents back-lashes — " Bad cess to 'em." Always 
jam the thumb down hard just before the bait lands, 
stop the rod in its sweep when it is much higher than 
the target, and keep your eyes on the plug. Then 
as it flies out and settles, slowly lower the tip of the 
rod, keeping the plug, line and rod on a line as 



io LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

much as possible, as it saves friction on the guides 
and makes your line last longer, as well as increases 
the distance of your cast. 

REEL LINE IN SMOOTHLY 

You have now made your first cast, and upon how 
carefully you reel in your line depends the success 
or failure of your next cast. Shift the rod to the 
left hand, grasping it above the reel and circling it 
from the underside, with the line between the fore- 
finger and the thumb which guide the line across the 
spool of the reel and back again until it is all reeled 
in. Pon't let it pile up on the ends of the spool, 
which it has an ornery habit of doing, or build up 
into a hump in the middle. If you do, you can 
check off the next cast as a dead one. 

Try to reel it in as level as possible. Of course 
when actually fishing you will always watch your 
bait while reeling in the line, especially when you 
are casting among lily pads and windfalls, but in the 
practice work watch the reel. This will save you 
lots of time and fish later. After a little practice 
you can watch the plug, remembering not to slow up 
the thumb and finger in guiding the line smoothly 
onto the reel, or it will pile up before you know it 
and bring back your old friend, Mr. G. W. Back- 
Lash, Esq. 

After you have made a few casts, Old Man, you 
will begin to notice the target, and how near you 



BAIT-CASTING FOR THE BEGINNER n 

are coming to it. As you develop accuracy at 30 
feet, increase your distance a few feet at a time, 
until you can cast say 60 feet, which is far enough 
to cast for most any fish. Trying for too much dis- 
tance at the start has spoiled many a bait caster. 



SPLIT-BAMBOO BAIT-CASTING RODS 

Without a doubt, Old Timer, the one-piece rod is 
the ideal bait caster, but when it comes to toting it 
around, it is the unhandiest article one could find in 
a year's travel. You simply cannot tote it along on 
a trip without the haunting fear that someone will 
assist you to break it, but once on the water with a 
little old one-piece split-bamboo rod, it shows up 
like four-of-a-kind after a lean run. For the perma- 
nent fishing camp or the chap that is lucky enough 
to live right close to good fishing waters, there is no 
better rod than the one-piece. It is full of action 
from the butt to the tip, and is not weakened at any 
point by a ferrule. You can sure play a scrappy fish 
to a fare-you-well with a one-piece rod, and were it 
not for the fact that it is so unhandy, and for that 
reason not desirable for ordinary use, more of them 
would be used by the fishing gentry. 

TWO-PIECE ROD A DINGER 

For the two-piece rod there is but one style of 
construction that should be considered, and that is 
the short butt and long tip. A rod of this kind 
comes the nearest to having the same amount of ac- 
tion and strength as the one-piece rod, as the ferrule 
is set well down below the center, allowing the strain 



SPLIT-BAMBOO BAIT-CASTING RODS 13 

to be distributed equally and giving the bamboo a 
chance to spring without being stiffened by a ferrule, 
and the action killed. This short-butt, long-tip con- 
struction gives you a snappy rod that shoots out the 
cast without unnecessary strain on the wrists and 
arm. In selecting a rod of two-piece construction, 
side-step the rod with the ferrule directly in the 
middle, the point of greatest strain in landing a fish. 

THREE-PIECE HANDY TO CARRY 

The main thing in favor of the three-piece rod is 
the fact that you can stick it in a suitcase and carry 
it without any bother. Every place you put a fer- 
rule on a rod kills that much more resiliency in the 
bamboo. The ferrule is unbendable and at that 
point comes the break when the load on the bamboo 
is too severe. This is a hundred to one shot and 
you can play it clean across the board and never take 
a chance on your money. Although serrated fer- 
rules are used in the more expensive rods, they can- 
not eliminate the severe strain which generally 
causes the rod to break either right above or below 
the ferrule. Even at that, the three-piece rod is 
stronger than the two-piece rod when the ferrule on 
the latter is in the middle. 

LENGTH AND WEIGHT OF RODS 

Early in the bait-casting game the rods were gen- 
erally made either four or four and a half feet in 



i 4 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

length, but as the sport grew in popularity, they 
stretched them up to six and a half feet, making all 
stops between. It is a matter of personal choice as 
to length, probably the most popular size being the 
five footer. This makes a rod that has a good 
swing to it and still carries enough backbone to hold 
the big ones, and at the same time is long enough to 
give fine play in landing the fish. For overhead 
casting, while sitting in a boat, the five-footer makes 
an ideal size, and is about right for distance casts. 
Split-bamboo rods average about an ounce to the 
foot, and at that rate a five-footer would only tax 
your wrists to the tune of five ounces, which isn't 
such a great old load to toss around during the day's 
fishing. 

FITTINGS FOR THE ROD 

The fittings of the rod are an important feature — 
they not only add to the life of the rod but also, if 
of the right kind, add to casting qualities, and every 
little help to lessen the effort and work of casting 
makes quite a difference in a few hours' fishing. 
The ferrules should be of German silver — they are 
stronger and better made than the brass ferrules 
which are generally nickel-plated, and many a defect 
can be hidden under a coating of nickel. 

The selection of the hand grip, as to style, lies 
between the single and the double grip. After a 
day's casting with the double grip you will wonder 



SPLIT-BAMBOO BAIT-CASTING RODS 15 

how you ever got along without it. It is far more 
comfortable to fish with, the upper grip giving you 
a firmer and easier hold on the rod in reeling in the 
line, and at the same time eliminating the cramped 
position of the left hand. If you have never used 
the double grip, Old Man, treat yourself to a good 
thing and select that style in your next rod. In the 
way of material, the solid cork grip, whicfi is really 
made of a series of cork washers, makes the finest 
grip in the game and it sure has a soft feel to the 
hand. As a second choice the canewound grip is 
alright, but why take a second choice when you can 
get the real stuff ? 

Of course you will want a locking reel seat; the 
majority of rods have them anyway and who wants 
to throw his reel into the drink right at the time 
when he has a chance to hook the big one? Finger- 
pulls are going a little into the discard, but it is no 
disgrace to have one on your rod, and at that it 
assists the short-fingered caster to maintain better 
control over his casts. If you feel that you will 
have better control over your rod with the finger 
pull, get it — you're the fellow to suit, not the in- 
nocent bystander. 

In the matter of guides, the agates have it on the 
rest of the family. Of course, the ideal rod has a 
complete set of narrow agate guides with an offset 
agate tip, but with the first guide gate and the tip 
of the same material, with the in-between guides of 



16 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

a medium-sized hard German silver ring, you have 
a combination that will stand up well, cause little or 
no friction on your line and give increased ease in 
casting, which are the main duties of a well-regulated 
bunch of guides. Way back in the early days of the 
short-bait casting rod the guides were all of the old 
Kalamazoo style, a great big guide about the size of 
a two-bit piece. Some of them are still floating 
around. If you ever see one making for you in a 
sporting goods store, give him both barrels and duck 
for the timber line, 'cause they sure are no account, 
and who wants to tote something that nobody else 
cares a rap about? 



STEEL BAIT-CASTING RODS AND 
OTHERS 

Well, Old Scout, we now come to that part of the 
tackle outfit that has caused more argument than the 
European war, by which we refer to the steel rod 
vs. the split-bamboo. There are a lot of anglers 
that swear by the split-bamboo rod and look with 
horror on the steel rod. These split-bamboo purists 
are considerably in the minority, however, as can be 
easily proven by "a straw vote of the rods in use at 
any camp or resort in the game-fishing country. 
Personally, Old Man, I believe that when it comes to 
downright class to a rod, you must place the blue 
ribbon on the split-bamboo. It is first choice of 
materials, being light, springy and considerably ac- 
tive, although in the hands of a beginner it sure 
stands a mighty fine chance of breaking if he hooks 
onto a real live wire of the weedy waters. For 
downright every-day sort of fishing, in among the 
weeds and windfalls and for general plug casting the 
steel rod takes no back seat with the split-bamboo 
or solid woods. With the steel rod the beginner 
need have no fear that it will break if he gives it a 
little care and attention in the handling. 

17 



18 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

STEEL A STURDY WORKER 

The steel rod naturally is a little heavier than the 
split-bamboo, although the slight difference in weight 
is not enough to put your arm in a sling after a 
day's casting. It has plenty of backbone and at the 
same time enough action to make it a fine caster 
without the whippiness of the split-bamboo. For 
tossing out the heavier artificial lures it is in a class 
by itself. It is a sturdy strong rod that can be de- 
pended on to " pump " a fighting bass out of the 
weeds without giving you heart failure over wonder- 
ing whether it will hold or not. By this, Old Man, 
don't take it that it is only a good rod for rough 
work; handled with the skill of an expert it makes 
as fine a fishing tool as any rod. It may not be as 
speedy in action as the split-bamboo, but as a buying 
proposition for the beginner, dollar for dollar, you 
will get a better rod in steel in the lower-priced rods 
than you will in either the split-bamboo or solid 
woods. 

ALWAYS READY FOR USE 

The steel rod does not require much care, being 
a husky tool, and about all that is necessary to keep 
it in first-class shape is to wipe it dry after using, 
and oil it occasionally with " three-in-one " in order 
to avoid rust. It is always ready for use and you 
never have to bother with frayed windings, cracked 



STEEL BAIT-CASTING RODS 19 

varnish or warped joints. You will never make a 
mistake if you include a steel rod in your kit ; in fact, 
if you are going into the woods far from your tackle 
supply, as a " safety first " tote a steel bait-caster. 
The general construction of the steel rod is three- 
piece with short handle, and the fact that the fer- 
rules, which are merely a band of bronze, are built 
right into the rod, overcomes the weakness of the 
three-piece split-bamboo. It is the most satisfactory 
rod of the three-piece construction. There is one 
little old veteran steel rod up in the North woods 
that started its bait-casting life as a five-footer some 
six years ago. A number of breaks and accidents 
have reduced it to a trifle below four feet. The 
guides have been resoldered a number of times, the 
enamel has passed away, yet this old pal of a rod 
made a 31^-pound musky come up to the gaff, with- 
out a quiver in its short length, and at that it's still 
good for many a cast. Wonderful strides have been 
made in the steel-rod end of the game, and it's here 
to stay, as is shown by its popularity on the fishing 
waters anywhere, and if you get a good one you can 
feel sure that it will be there with the goods when 
you hook your big one, excellent for learning the 
game, and, in fact, a fine rod for any time. They 
can be had in any style and length, the better rods 
being made with solid cork grips, three piece and 
separate butt. Agate first guide and tip, with Ger- 
man silver or hardened steel intermediate guides 



20 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

make a rod that works well with the soft braided 
silk casting lines. 

SOLID WOOD RODS 

Of the solid woods for bait-casting rods noibwood 
takes first place. It is a wonderful resilient wood, 
and at the same time tough and strong. It makes 
a mighty fine rod, but for the average fisherman the 
price is so high that it's on the top shelf just out of 
reach. But if you ever get to the point where you 
want to squander a nice price on a solid wood rod 
that is par excellence, get one of noibwood. 

Bethabara is a more commonly known material of 
the solid-wood family, and for $10 you can get a 
fine rod of this wood that will make a handsome ap- 
pearance and give you a caster that will more than 
satisfy you. The bethabara rod is a livelier caster; 
it is tough enough to stand hard handling, although 
careless use may warp it. 

A close second in casting power, strength and re- 
siliency comes greenheart, and as this wood is far 
lighter than bethabara, the rods made of it are con- 
siderably thicker than those of bethabara and yet 
not any heavier. Good greenheart rods can be 
bought for $6 and up. 

Of the solid woods, lance-wood is by far the 
cheapest and some years ago had quite a following, 
but you will see few in use to-day. It has a tendency 
to warp under a strain, and even atmospheric changes 
will have a noticeable effect upon it. 



THE BAIT-CASTING REEL 

There is one part of your bait-casting outfit that 
sure must be right in material and workmanship, Old 
Scout, or you might as well make up your mind that 
your bait-casting days will be a grand old series of 
backlashes and cuss words, and that little old im- 
portant feature is your reel. You can slip a set of 
guides on a cane or any old stick and with a good 
free-running reel make a cast, but without a reel that 
runs smooth and even, your bait casting will be one 
darned bit of trouble after another, and to save your 
standing in the home burg you'll go back to still fish- 
ing and lead a peaceful, quiet life. When you figure 
the amount of work the reel performs in a single 
day's casting, taking an average of six hours for 
actual casting, you get some idea of the heavy tax 
placed on the bearings and gears as it sticks to the 
job of shooting out the line at a high speed and re- 
trieving it. A slipshod, poorly constructed reel, 
carelessly thrown together, will cough up its gears 
after an hour or so, and it's good night to your 
fishing trip. 

THE QUADRUPLE MULTIPLIER 

The quadruple multiplying reel and the short rod 
have put bait casting in the past few years in first 

21 



22 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

place as the most popular method of fishing, because 
it is easy to learn and generally gets the fish. There 
is nothing mysterious about the q-m ; it simply means 
that the gears are toothed to make four revolutions 
of the spool of the reel to one revolution of the 
handle. This increases the speed of recovering the 
line with the least amount of hand work. In shape 
the reel should be of the long, low spool design, the 
ordinary 6o-yard reel having end plates of 2 inches 
in diameter and the 80-yard reel 2 14 inches. A reel 
of this size is plenty large enough for any bait cast- 
ing and the long, low spool design aids in the thumb- 
ing of the line. 

When selecting a reel you will make no mistake 
in choosing one made of German silver, which is by 
all odds the best material used in the construction 
of bait-casting reels. A reel made of German silver, 
with all pinions, bearings and working parts of fine 
tempered steel is a piece of machinery that will stand 
up under any conditions. No matter if the reel be 
one of the low-priced ones, if there is a square 
manufacturer's name behind it, and it is made on 
the above specifications and given the care and at- 
tention it should have, it will last indefinitely. After 
one has learned bait casting and knows how to treat 
the reel and desires something with a classy look, 
include in your kit one of the combination rubber 
head and tail plates and German silver reels. This 
reel, however, requires careful handling as the rubber 



THE BAIT-CASTING REEL 23 

is fragile, but it sure looks the part of the aristo- 
crat. 

JEWELED BEARINGS ARE FINE 

Without a doubt jeweled bearings on the reel 
make it run more smoothly and add to its life. 
The lengthened life of a reel due to the fact that it 
is jeweled more than overbalances the added cost 
over the ordinary kind. As a general thing the 
jewels are set in removable caps at the end of the 
bearings which makes it easy to keep them clean and 
oiled. Of course the jeweled reel nicks you deeper 
in the bank roll, but after a fellow has put in practice 
work on the lower-priced reels and feels like invest- 
ing in one that will last forever, if handled right, 
then the jeweled reel is the only one to buy. Right 
down to cases, as it were, the jeweled reel is one that 
acts best in the hands of the angler who knows how 
to handle it. It spins with such freedom and speed 
that it is conducive to backlashes with the beginner, 
who has not the thumb work to control it. 

CARE OF THE REEL 

The life of any reel will be mighty short if it is 
not given care and attention. The finest machine in 
the world will not run without oil, yet many fellows 
will use a reel week after week, and not think of 
feeding it a little soothing sirup until it begins to 
scrape and rattle like the .5 : 15. When this stage is 



24 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

reached they will drop a little oil in the cups, but 
the damage is done through overheated bearings and 
pinions, and the reel will never again run with the 
freedom from friction and as smoothly as before the 
rough grind was handed it. 

A reel should be cleaned and oiled after each day's 
fishing. The ordinary thin oil is not sufficient, as no 
thin oil will last through the different temperatures 
to which a reel is subjected during a day's casting. 
Heated by the hot sun or chilled by the night air, as 
well as drenched with water during the day makes a 
combination that would eliminate any thin oil. On 
the other hand the thick oils soon churn into a 
creamy paste and hamper and clog the reel so that 
you think you are losing your speed at the game when 
your casts slow up. You make no mistake when 
you invest in a bottle of " real " reel oil and the best 
comes from the jawbones and lubber of the por- 
poise. This oil is refined up in the Arctic circle and 
will stand the gaff of any temperature. After you 
buy the oil, use it; don't stand it away in the tackle 
cabinet and forget it. 

Oiling the reel is not all that is necessary to keep 
the little old pleasure producer in good shape. Like 
the line, the reel should be entirely dried after each 
day's fishing. Athough German silver does not rust, 
it will corrode and the main cause for corroding is 
dampness. Be fair to the reel and dry it thoroughly 
in the open air or sunlight, and drop a little oil in 



THE BAIT-CASTING REEL 25 

each oil cup before you tuck it away for the night. 
As a final tip on the reel, Old Man, here's hopin' 
you don't take it apart every once in a while to see 
what makes it go. The smooth-running qualities of 
many a fine reel have been ruined by the inquisitive 
cuss with the itching palm and a screw driver. Of 
course you would never think of taking your watch 
apart and assembling it again, and a finely adjusted 
reel is just as accurately set as a fine watch. If any- 
thing goes bad with the reel, take it down to a reel 
doctor and let him feel its pulse. This will save you 
time and money and for practice at mechanics you 
can have as much fun tinkering with an old alarm 
clock as a victim. 



SELF-THUMBERS VS. BACKLASHES 

There has been quite a bit of hectic comedy pulled 
off regarding the self -thumbing, or more commonly 
called antibacklash reels, some of the writers of fish- 
ing dope going right up into the clouds at the mere 
mention of a self-thumber, all for the simple reason 
that they think it is unsportsmanlike to take ad- 
vantage of the little fishes by using a mechanical 
device which makes casting easier. A big part of 
this highbrow stuff is bunk. We admit that there is 
a lot of pleasure to be derived from artistically 
thumbing the line, and for the fellow who has the 
time to devote to learning thumbing (and it cannot 
be picked up in a day) we say go to it, Old Man, 
and you'll enjoy it. But to the great big army of 
every-once-in-a-while fishermen, who plug away on 
the real job most of the time to keep the wolf from 
getting too well acquainted, there is nothing bet- 
ter than the self-thumber. You can learn to cast 
with a half hour's practice. Of course you won't 
be an expert at placing your bait, but you have the 
great advantage of the thumbing attended to, and 
that's nine-tenths of the operation of making the 
cast. 

26 



SELF-THUMBERS VS. BACKLASHES 27 

MORE POPULAR EVERY DAY 

The fact that you see more of these reels each 
year shows that they are popular with the week-end 
fisherman. No matter how proficient a fellow may 
be in the casting game, every now and then he piles 
up a backlash that makes the air assume a beautiful 
purple from the deep muttered words that escape 
through his exhaust. After a couple of hours' prac- 
tice the beginner can cast his 30 or 40 feet with 
less backlashes than can the old-timer at the game, 
using the ordinary reel. If the beginner be a par- 
ticularly careful man, backlashes will be almost en- 
tirely eliminated. 

For moonlight fishing or any night fishing, the 
antiback-lash reel holds the center of the stage. At 
this game you cannot beat it, and as many of the 
largest old bass are caught late in the evening or at 
night, even the Old Timer should carry one tucked 
away in his tackle box for this kind of work. I 
know of nothing more conducive to the flow of cuss 
words than to get a backlash on a dark night and 
then try to disentangle it with the aid of a pocket 
flashlight unless it be that you have a fine old bass 
flopping aground in the water at the other end of 
your line while you are working out the puzzle. 

There are two mighty good self-thumbers on the 
market, the South Bend Antiback-lash and the Pflue- 
ger-Redifor Antiback-lash. Both of these reels 



28 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

are well made on the lines of the other famous 
quadruples, with, of course, the added value of being 
a great little help to the beginner because they put 
the death sign on the backlashes. 

The South Bend nicks your bank roll to the tune 
of $9. This is a well-made reel of high polished 
German silver. The spool and gear journals are of 
tool steel and built on the long low design considered 
the best for bait casting. The bushings are of 
phosphor bronze and the end-thrust is supported by 
adjustable jeweled spool journal caps that are handy 
for oiling. The gears are made of solid Tobin 
bronze, are cut a special hunting tooth, and they 
should wear until the cows come home. 

SELF-THUMBER OR STRAIGHT CASTER 

On the South Bend Antiback-lash reel there is a 
small wire across the front of the reel under which 
the line is threaded. When the cast is made this 
wire is lifted by the position of the rod and as the 
line works out, and the lure slows up, the weight of 
the wire causes the necessary pressure on the spool 
to slow it up the same as natural thumbing of the 
line. On the crank side of the reel is a tension screw 
that can be adjusted with a slight turn to accom- 
modate any weight of lures. By turning the tension 
screw a little farther you can use the reel as an 
ordinary caster and at that it will show up with any 
in its class. 



SELF-THUMBERS VS. BACKLASHES 29 

The Pflueger-Redifor Antiback-lash reel is sure a 
beautiful tool, and besides having the looks of a 
thoroughbred it is serviceable and durable, having 
a bunch of ancestors behind it in the reel family that 
it can be proud of. The great old feature that 
makes this reel so successful as a self-thumber are 
the Flegel centrifugal thumbers. To look at this 
reel you will see nothing to indicate that it is a self- 
thumber, but hidden away under the end plates are 
a pair of little flanges attached to the rear end of 
the spool. The force of the spinning spool throws 
these flanges against the rim of the end plates and 
governs the action of the spool automatically. This 
sounds mighty simple, but you have to see the reel 
working to appreciate its wonderful value. 

SPIRAL TOOTH GEARS GREAT CASTERS 

In finish the Pflueger-Redifor is made of German 
silver with adjustable jeweled oil cup. Bearings are 
of phosphor bronze, which are practically indestruc- 
tible, and with generated spiral tooth gears that give 
the easy-running action to a reel and fit snug at all 
times without slowing up the works. 

Aside from the fact that the Pflueger-Redifor is 
a sure-fire self-thumber, it is made along the lines of 
the regular quadruple multiplier and its satin finish 
gives it a classy appearance. At the same time the 
dull finish does not flash over the water when making 
a cast. The spool is long and carries from 60 to 



30 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

ioo yards of line, according to size. This reel 
stands you back $7.50. 

The self-thumber is a mighty fine reel for the be- 
ginner, especially for the fellow who has limited 
time to devote to the finest of sports, and as a side 
tip, let me tell you that it often makes a good fisher- 
man out of the lady-who-sometimes-goes-along, be- 
cause she can cast with ease after a few throwouts. 



The time 'o day when fishing is usually at its best. As the sun is 
about to kiss the day, good-night, and slip into it's bed below the horizon, 
just paddle around to the shadow side of the lake and cast into the dark- 
ened shore waters among the windfalls and weed-beds. A little ruffle 
to the water makes your chances of interesting the game fins better than 
a still quiet surface. 



THE LEVEL-WINDING REEL 

Getting down to the secret of the cause of back- 
lashes, Old Scout, you will find that thumbing the reel 
improperly is a secondary fault and that the real rea- 
son for those little mixed-up jumbles of line is that 
the line has been spooled in poor shape after making 
the preceding cast. Even spooling of the line is the 
best insurance against backlashes. At the same time 
it is to some fishermen a mighty tiring game, and 
many a fervent prayer has been uttered by the finger- 
weary bait-tosser for a level-winding reel. 

To the fellow who has never enjoyed the pleasure 
of a backlash, and to the expert who never gets 'em, 
the following system will be found a sure producer of 
a backlash that will make a Chinese puzzle look like 
a straight line. Just in an offhand sort of way reel 
in your line without noticing it, let it pile up on the 
spool until it humps in the center and clings lovingly 
to one of the end plates, then make your cast, and we 
guarantee a beautiful, classy backlash that will pro- 
duce more cuss words to the square inch than any 
other part of the fishing game. Now that you have 
at last experienced a backlash, common to us ordi- 
nary bait-tossers, it is easy to realize just what the 
level-winding reel eliminates in the sport of casting. 

31 



32 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

WATCH THE LURE 

Another advantage of the level-winder is that, 
with its use you can give undivided attention to your 
lure and the playing of a fish. During the excite- 
ment of the strike and play a fellow likes to keep 
his eye on the old " he-wop " tugging for liberty 
and it's a good bet that in the majority of cases little 
attention is paid to the level spooling of the line. 

Unless the line is spooled evenly no amount of 
skill in thumbing the outgoing line will entirely avoid 
backlashes, and even the fisherman who enjoys the 
pleasure of thumbing the line and does not care to 
use a mechanical assistant as a helper will find the 
level-winding reel a mighty handy tool to make his 
casting days more delightful. One will often hear 
a class of fishermen explode with an awful roar when 
any fishing tool having an improvement to eliminate 
some of the so-called " art " of angling is mentioned. 
This bunk, however, must be taken with a few of 
the proverbial grains of salt and the fisherman who 
wishes to pass up the most tiring part of fishing, 
spooling the line, need look no farther than the level- 
winding reel. And when you take a flier at the fall 
fishing, with the water fairly cold, it sure makes a 
hit with even the ultrapnrist. 

THE ORIGINAL LEVEL-WINDER 

The original level-winder is the Shakespeare. 
This reel is the product of the gray matter of 



THE LEVEL-WINDING REEL 33 

William Shakespeare, Jr., an angler and sportsman 
who worked a number of years in perfecting this 
little old drudgery-killer in the greatest of sports. 
The earlier Shakespeare level-winders were fitted 
with a line guide which traveled back and forth 
across the front of the reel on a double propelling 
screw, while later ones have but a single endless 
screw bar along which the line guide travels. The 
line guide is driven by a gear which meshes with the 
endless screw pinion and every time the reel handle 
makes a turn the guide continues on its way and lays 
the line as accurately and evenly as thread on a new- 
wound spool. This line guide is not an attachment, 
but is built solidly into the reel; in fact, is part of the 
frame itself. There are no little " thingamajigs " 
to get out of order and the movement of the line 
guide in no way interferes with the casting distance ; 
in fact, it increases accuracy in the cast, as one can 
give close attention to the lure, as the smoothly 
spooled line travels evenly off the reel. 

The Shakespeare level-winding reel sets you back 
from $7.50 to $35, according to the weight of your 
bank roll, and any one of the outfit will make an 
addition to the tackle-box that will banish tired 
fingers from the off front paw. As the main point 
of golf seems to be " keep your eye on the ball," 
with a level-winder you can make your slogan " keep 
your eye on the fish " on the far end of the line, 
and so increase your chances of landing him. 



34 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

FLEGEL FATHERS A DINGER 

Of course, Old Man, you have heard of the 
" Beetzel," that little old self-thumber, level-winder, 
free spool wonder that does everything but spit on 
the bait. This reel is the combined effort of George 
Upton, of Warren, Ohio, and Ben Flegel, the father 
of those little Flegel thumber flanges which make 
the Redifor-Pflueger an antibacklasher. In the 
Beetzel, Flegel, known from coast to coast as a won- 
derful and skillful caster, has added a little twist to 
the centrifugal thumbers that stop the spool of the 
reel as soon as the bait stops. The line carrier on 
this reel travels back and forth on a worm gear, the 
top of the carrier being notched. The line is not 
held in restraint when casting, as the carrier drops 
out of position when the cast is made and is picked 
up by the carrier when reeled in. 

In the free spool end of the reel there are no 
levers or plugs to manipulate; you simply give the 
reel handle about one-eighth of a turn backward and 
there is no drag on the line except the spool itself. 
The main gear and pinion are in mesh at all times, 
whether the spool is in gear or not. This is due to 
the make of the pinion gear which slides up and 
down on the spool journal shaft and you avoid all 
chances of stripping the gears, as will happen on 
some free-spoolers when the gears are suddenly 
thrown in and out of mesh. The reel is exception- 



THE LEVEL-WINDING REEL 35 

ally strong and durable and built on the old-line 
pattern of famous quadruple-multipliers, low-spool 
design. 

The Beetzel shrinks your bank roll to the tune of 
$20, but it does so many things a fellow never 
thought could be crowded into one little old reel, that 
it doesn't seem so awful much after you have worked 
it out on a day's fishing. 



BAIT-CASTING LINES 

Many a fish, Old Scout, has been lost on the first 
three feet of the line, not on account of the weakness 
of the entire line, or poor quality, but solely from 
the wear and fraying on the end of the bait casting 
line due to the friction on the guides and the pull 
of the bait in its start to the fish. The wear is far 
greater on the first few feet of the line than any 
other part, and to be sure of your fish, you must be 
sure of the strength of that basic part of your tackle, 
the line that lands 'em. One of the big points to 
remember in the care of the line is to test it every 
now and then and break off a foot or two when it 
shows weakness. The snapping of a good line can 
be avoided by this little precaution. 

Many a good lure is lost, many a spoon or buck- 
tail donated to the deep water, and many a fish fades 
away from the gaff because this little essential in the 
care of the line is overlooked. The line may well 
be called the " safety first " of the bait-casting outfit. 

SOFT BRAID VERSUS HARD BRAID 

The only line to be considered for bait casting is 
the braided silk, and of this kind we have the choice 
between the hard and the soft braided. Of the 

36 



BAIT-CASTING LINES 37 

former it can be said it wears well and absorbs prac- 
tically no water, but as a casting line it takes a back 
seat to the soft braided affair. Owing to the ease 
with which the soft braided line slides from the reel, 
it makes the best possible line for casting, and you 
can thumb it all day without burning your thumb to 
the quick, which is more than you can say for the 
hard braided. 

The soft braided line spools closely and smoothly 
on the reel and does not run down so quickly in 
making a cast, thus giving better thumb control than 
with the hard braided line. 

For general bait casting with plugs and artificials 
of the wobbler variety you should have a No. 5 line. 
Some manufacturers lettering their product make a 
G size which corresponds to the No. 5. For the 
lighter lures of the spoon, pork rind and minnow 
class let your selection be a No. 6 or H size. 

don't use a rope 

The big mistake of the beginner, as well as lots 
of sure-fire fishermen, Old Man, is in selecting a line 
that is too large and heavy. It is absolutely im- 
possible to do accurate casting with a big, heavy, 
clumsy line, and anyway this is entirely unnecessary. 
With the ordinary tackle few fishermen can put more 
than four or five pounds pull on the line if the rod 
is used properly, and if it is not the rod will " go " 
before the line. 



38 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

I do not think it is necessary to use a line of 
greater test strength than 12 or 15 pounds for 
ordinary casting, unless, of course, you are casting 
for musky, northern pike or pickerel. For general 
bass casting a 15-pound test line will more than fill 
the bill and at the same time keep your line down 
to a size that will make your casting far easier than 
with the heavier and more bulky line which piles up 
on your reel so quick that it fouls on the reel pillars 
and makes casting about as enjoyable as handling 
a towline on a tug. 

DRY YOUR LINE AFTER FISHING 

One of the simplest ways to put a good line out 
of the game is to let it dry on the reel; do this a 
few times, Buck, and your line is n. g., no matter 
what high quality goods you started with. When 
dried on a reel, only the top layers of the line really 
dry; the balance molds and rots so that it is in fine 
shape to break when you hook that big one. All 
of which points to the fact that you should reel out 
your line after each day's fishing, hang it between 
two convenient trees and let it dry out thoroughly 
before putting it to bed. Don't let it lie along the 
ground or dry out in the sun, and with the above 
care you will add 100 per cent to the life of any line. 

Another way to put a good casting line on the 
hummer is to use it for trolling. No matter how 
many swivels you may have on your line while troll- 



BAIT-CASTING LINES 39 

ing, it will become so twisted that casting with it will 
become a " world's series " of backlashes. When 
you think it's time to use a new line for casting, shoot 
the old one into the trolling department, and die 
happy casting the new one. 

EASY TO WATERPROOF A LINE 

To avoid soaking up too much water in your 
casting line, which makes it heavy, you can water- 
proof it by saturating it in a solution of vaseline and 
light oil, or three-in-one oil. You can apply the oil 
either by rubbing it into the line with a well-soaked 
cloth or apply it in bulk by heating the oil (not boil- 
ing) and soaking the entire line at once. If you oil 
the line while still on the original spool let it soak 
about 20 or 30 minutes; if you have the line 
wrapped loosely on a stick much shorter time, about 
ten minutes, will do the trick. In either case wipe 
off all the surplus oil. This will not only waterproof 
your line, but will make it pliant and flexible and the 
lubricant will reduce the friction on the guides, sav- 
ing wear on the line and aid it in running smoothly 
and easily under the thumb. 

Any way you take it, Old Chap, you gotta give the 
line some care if you expect it to do its part in the 
game of " holdin' and landin' " the finny tribe. 



SPOONS AND SPINNERS 

You wonder where the spoon gets its big drag 
with the fishermen; well, Old Top, for trolling and 
casting, the old reliable spoon probably is more gen- 
erally used than any other kind of lure and you can 
check it up in your memory book that it often gets 
the fish when other lures fail to coax the big fins out 
of the wet. 

Of course the spoon doesn't look like any natural 
bait, nor does it appear to the beginner as a par- 
ticularly attractive feed for a hungry fish, but it does 
the one thing necessary in the fishing game, and that 
is, it attracts the fish. After you have had a spoon 
bent double by an over-zealous fish trying to inhale 
it, you will realize that it is sure some attracter. 

ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY OF SPOON 

Way back in your A, B, C days, so piscatorial 
historians claim, an old sour-dough was washing his 
one spoon and plate after a repast of johnny-cake 
and bacon, when by accident the spoon flopped into 
the water and did a salome down to the bottom. As 
the spoon zig-zagged down through the water he 
noticed the quick, sharp flashes of light reflected 
from the bowl of the spoon, and at the same time a 

40 



SPOONS AND SPINNERS 41 

lake trout getting the light flashes, made a lunge for 
the spoon, dulled his teeth on it, and then beat it. 
Thanks to the old " hard-panner " and his ability 
to assimilate an idea, we have the legion of spoon 
baits to-day. He rescued the spoon, cut off the bowl, 
bored a hole in each end, linked a hook in one end 
and a line in the other, and ate fish for supper that 
very night. 

The changes that have been made in the old 
original spoon in shape, size and decorations, runs 
up into the hundreds. They are plain, fluted, 
grooved, hammered, corrugated, ribbed, and what- 
not, and as long as they spin around in the water 
they get the fish. You can get them in gold, silver, 
nickel, copper, brass or enamel and if you tried out 
the whole kit, you'd be busy the rest of the season 
without a layoff for grub. 

GREAT STUFF FOR TROLLING 

For trolling the spoon hook will hold its own any 
time. Bass, pickerel, pike and musky like to give 
it the once-over as it glides through the water, shoot- 
ing its light shafts in all directions. It can be seen 
for quite a distance under water and can be used 
either with plain hooks or with a feathered or buck- 
tailed treble hook. A single hook with a minnow, 
shiner, frog or pork rind works well with a spoon. 

For bass, a No. 3 tandem Hildebrandt Slim Eli, 
or Standard shape, or a Skinner No. 3 Fluted Spoon 



42 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

makes a selection that will help fill the stringer, while 
pickerel and musky require a larger sized spoon, 
say a No. 6 to 10, for a single spoon, and No. 6 
for the tandem spinner. 

For casting you will need a No. 3 single spoon 
which you can use without any other bait or with an 
eyed fly or natural baits. A strip of pork rind cut 
to the shape of a minnow and used with the No. 3 
spoon makes a bait that is a sure enough " killer." 

As long as you keep it moving in the water, a 
spoon will turn around and you have a chance to 
attract the fish, but letting it die a slow death, and 
merely come through the water without any action 
is a loss of time to you. It's the movement and 
the light shafts from the spoon that attract the fish, 
and it's up to you to keep the bait moving. 

On a bright, sunny day in clear water, a copper 
spoon can be used with good results, while on a 
cloudy day, or when the water is rough, a brass or 
nickeled spoon makes the best lure. For fishing in 
dark waters, the Skinner white enameled spoon 
makes 'em sit up and take notice. 

GOOD FOR TROUT FISHING, ALSO 

On its way to glory the little old spoon has even 
been copped by the trout fisherman and on a dull 
day a small Colorado spinner can be seen better than 
the fly alone. Often when the trout fails to take 
the fly on the surface, they will give it the " close- 



SPOONS AND SPINNERS 43 

up " if sunk to the depth where they lie, with a spoon 
for a helper. Early in the season when the waters 
are high and roily as well as clouded with mud, the 
spinner is an asset to the trout fisherman. 

For after-dark fishing, which is the time the big 
ones are generally on the still hunt for feed, the 
Pflueger-Tandem luminous spinner makes a good 
bait. This is also fine for moonlight trolling. The 
luminous spinner must be exposed to the sunlight 
before using at night, the same as the artificial plugs 
used for night fishing. 

When all other lures fail you can generally count 
on getting the fish if you fall back on the spoon, 
either in trolling or casting, and your tackle box is 
not complete, Old Man, unless you are prepared for 
emergencies with a selection of single and tandem 
spoons and spinners in nickel, brass and copper. 
Just remember, however, to keep them well polished, 
and when you use them, keep 'em moving. 



WOBBLERS, WIGGLERS AND PLUGS 

They are with us by the hundreds and even thou- 
sands, the various-shaped wooden plugs, painted in 
every color in the deck and then a few extra cubist 
daubs thrown in for luck. And here's the funny 
part, old chap : they all seem to get the fish, more 
or less, according to the expertness of the manipu- 
lator of the rod. 

Although the majority of the artificial baits do not 
resemble any natural bait — that is, not so you 
would notice it without first having read their pedi- 
grees — yet for some inexplicable reason the fish 
strike them, and as they generally have hooks galore, 
even the beginner has no trouble in hooking his fish; 
in fact, many times the fish hooks himself. Of 
course you'll have to jot this down in your dream- 
book: " Hookin' 'em doesn't always mean landin' 
'em." 

WHAT MAKES 'EM DO IT? 

Probably when a highly cultured bass sees one of 
these gloriously decorated affairs splash in his home 
grounds he up and makes a dash at it in anger at 
the rough-neck intrusion of the queer-looking object, 
or perhaps strikes it in pure cussedness, egged on 

44 



WOBBLERS, WIGGLERS AND PLUGS 45 

by the wonderful movements of the little demon in 
its wobble back to the caster. 

How they ever dug the big bunch out of the wood- 
pile and got away with it is the eighth wonder of the 
world. More power to 'em. What would a fellow 
do if he couldn't browse around among a bunch of 
new ones and select a few to take along on each trip 
and try them out on the unsuspecting fish? Every 
time you get a new selection you have a sneaking 
idea that you have perhaps at last found the 
" killer " you are always on the lookout for. 

You can get them shaped like a minnow or 
fashioned after a chunk of pork and they are some- 
times armed with a spinner fore and aft, while in 
the last few years plugs resembling nothing in par- 
ticular have been put temptingly before the eyes of 
the fishermen and touted as the one best bet of the 
season. Some of them don't look like fish feed, but 
they have a little groove, flute or curve that makes 
them do a Turkish dance through the water that 
even an old-time " he bass " falls for. 

YOU NEVER CAN TELL 

You never know what you can do with one of 
these dippy, diving, wobbling wonders 'till you try 
it and then all the advance dope and traditions of 
that particular bait may go to smash in one after- 
noon's fishing and new victories in an entirely dif- 
ferent line of fishing be pegged up to its credit. 



46 LAKE AND -STREAM GAME FISHING 

To illustrate this point, Old Man, at the opening 
of the season I took a flyer at bass. It had been 
cold and rainy, with high waters, and the bass were 
quiet and far-offish. My tackle box was decked out 
with a collection of lures guaranteed to make any 
bass nervous, jealous or fighting mad. The bass 
sure were off their feed, both in color and shape. 
Nothing seemed to coax them out of the wet. I 
snapped on a South Bend Bass-ereno bait, all white 
with a red head, and tried that as an enticer. Noth- 
ing doing with the bass, but I had as nice a piece of 
wall-eyed pike fishing as a fellow could find any- 
where. Almost every cast brought a strike, and in 
the afternoon's casting this little old bass lure hooked 
32 wall-eyed pike, all of which were thrown back in 
the drink except the larger ones and that left a 
stringer with the limit and none below two pounds, 
topped with a six and a half pounder. My fishing 
pal and guide had the same luck with a white Wilson 
Wobbler with red flutes, by which he swears like a 
pagan. They were sure off the bass, but on the 
pike. 

THE COLORS THEY LIKE 

As to color, the preference seems to be with white 
body and red head, followed by all red, all yellow, 
green back with white belly and rainbow, but what 
they take one day may be passed without a squint 
the next. However, with the above colors in your 



WOBBLERS, WIGGLERS AND PLUGS 47 

tackle outfit you probably can please them any 
day. 

The luminous-painted plug, which, if exposed to 
daylight or artificial light, glows like the dampened 
head of a match, makes an excellent bait for after 
sundown or moonlight casting. The fact that these 
baits float when in the water and not in motion 
makes them an ideal lure for the beginner, especially 
when he puts in a session with a little old backlash. 
He knows his bait is floating instead of snagging, 
which was the habit of the " daddy " of this kind 
of plug, the old underwater sinker that found more 
snags and hook holds than a fellow thought could 
exist in well regulated fishing waters. 

LURES THAT MAKE 'EM STRIKE 

For a selection of lively artificials, the Jamison 
Coaxer, which is a cross between a chunk, of pork 
and a humming bird, makes a good one to start with ; 
the Heddon's Baby Crab Wiggler gives all the 
moves of a crawfish going home to its mother and 
that sure is pie for the bass. The Wilson Fluted 
Wobbler South Bend Bass-ereno and Rush Tango 
Minnow, all with white body and red heads, give 
you a bunch of dives, dips and crawls that are hard 
to beat. The Pflueger-Surprise minnow, Apex Bull- 
nose and the Jim Dandy plug have the motion of 
a crippled minnow, easy feed for a hungry fish. 

With these baits in your tackle box, and any others 



48 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

that tickle your fancy, you ought to be able to slip 
one over on the unsuspecting fish and at the same 
time have a lot of fun watching them do their dance 
in the water. 



NIGHT BAIT-CASTING 

Nearly every fisherman develops a case of buck 
fever, or " nerves," when he lands his first musky, 
especially if the musky be a large-sized one. While 
fishing last summer with a pal who had never landed 
a musky, but who had brought many bass to net, he 
hooked his first musky, played him coolly and with 
skill until the musky broke water close up to the 
boat, and then when he lamped the size of the fish 
and the sardonic smile wrinkling the old villain's 
mouth, which had an enormous spread, this old-time 
basser went to pieces with as nice a case of " nerves " 
as you'll find in a day's paddle. 

The old scout's sole desire was to derrick that 
musky right into the boat. He had an awful night- 
mare that this great, big whopper would get away, 
and I had to beg and entreat him to give and take 
line with the whims of the musky and use his won- 
derful skill in playing the fish. After the " shot of 
grace " ended the fight, my pal said he had an un- 
conquerable desire to yank that musky in by main 
force and an overwhelming fear that he would get 
away. At the same time he was shaking like a 
horse with the heaves, and the beads of cold perspi- 
ration were oozing out on his fevered brow. 

49 



50 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

FULL OF THRILLS 

And this only leads up to what you may expect 
to experience, Old Man, when you hook your first 
bass in the dead of night. Not a moonlight night, 
mind you, but a simon pure pitch-dark affair, when 
the big " he-whops " are flopping around making a 
night of it and feeding to their hearts' content. If 
you don't discover on your first night-fishing expedi- 
tion that you have an entirely unknown set of nerves 
with a bunch of jumps and thrills that you have never 
experienced before, you are of a different make-up 
from the ordinary old scout who follows the glad- 
some call of the lakes and streams. 

There is a fascination about night fishing that can 
be found in no other angle of the game, and once 
you have " set in " you will make it part of each 
fishing trip to have a few sessions with the big fins 
that stay up all night. 

STURDY TACKLE NECESSARY 

For night fishing you will of course use your steel 
rod, for the reason that it is built for sturdier work 
than the split-bamboo, and you never can tell what 
you are going to run up against in a night foray. 
For instance — a musky. What luck to hook one 
of these boys and have him dish up his tailful of 
tricks while you have your hands wrapped around a 



NIGHT BAIT-CASTING 51 

rod that has the weight and stiffness to help bring 
him to gaff ! 

For even the most experienced caster to go on a 
night casting jaunt with the ordinary reel is sure a 
gambling chance. Backlashes fall to the lot of the 
cleverest thumber and one of them at night comes 
under the head of what old General Sherman called 
war. To avoid this, tote along a little old antiback- 
lash reel, for if there ever was a place for the self- 
thumber, it is in night-fishing. A level winding at- 
tachment also comes in handy, as spooling the line 
evenly in the dark is some trick without one. A 
level winding reel runs a close second to the self- 
thumber for night work, and the advantage of the 
self-thumber is so slight that a choice of the two 
merely depends on which you happen to have in 
your kit. A reel with the combination of the two 
is a sure-fire winner in the dark. 

BE SURE OF YOUR LINE 

For the line, the number five or six, soft braided 
silk, same as used for ordinary casting, is right. 
The heavier line is better as the added strength may 
come in handy and the casts are all short ones at 
night, which will keep the little extra weight from 
being noticed. Be sure your line tests out strong 
before the trip, as the work of landing your fish will 
be rougher than in the daylight, owing to the handi- 



52 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

cap in the sight line, and you have to take some 
chances in giving the butt and holding back that you 
wouldn't find necessary if you could follow the fish 
with your eyes. 

As to lures, make a selection of all white and 
luminous, selecting only floaters and semi-surface 
plugs. The under-water plug is taboo and has no 
place in the night-kit. Weedless hooks on your 
plugs will save you an endless amount of trouble, 
and although you may not hook every strike, you 
eliminate the hooking of villainous weeds, snags and 
windfalls, and of these you will find millions you 
never met before, in a night's fishing. The luminous 
plug, which glows at night after being exposed to 
the sun during the day, has the added advantage of 
being easily located on the water by the caster be- 
sides making a more inviting bait for the bass. 

don't rush the cast 

In night fishing, about the most important thing 
is to be acquainted with the bay, cove or stretch of 
water you intend to fish. Look it over well before 
the actual fishing and locate the weeds, windfalls and 
snags. Pick out the spot where you intend to fish 
and anchor in a position that will give you casting 
water on three sides. Slip the old boat into this 
berth a little before sunset, as quietly as possible, 
and drop the anchor. After the sun's glow has left 
the sky and the dark gathers around, you will be 



NIGHT BAIT-CASTING 53 

shocked into alertness by the first splash off to the 
right as one of the big fellows does an " Annette 
Kellerman " after a fleeing minnow. Don't rush 
the cast, but take a little time and swing it out in 
the direction of the splash, and don't be afraid to 
let the plug make a splash as it strikes the water. 
Before you land the first one, they'll be flopping all 
around, and your night's work is cut out for you. 



ON THE HOME LIFE OF THE BASS 

Every one needs a little info on the habits and 
home life of the black bass and when and where to 
find him. The bass, both large and small-mouthed, 
is a roamer, a lively, active hunter for the best place 
to gorge himself on the choice minnows, crawfish 
and helgramite with a dessert from the surface of the 
water of moths, flies and frogs. He is a great little 
traveler, and soon becomes big chief of the waters 
in which he lives. With such a varied menu, you 
will find him ever ready for a fight, equally eager 
for fly-hook, trolling-spoon, live bait or plug and 
right on the job to put up a struggle that will test 
your skill. You can fish for him night or day, as 
he is a 24-hour feeder, but early morning and late 
afternoon is the surest time to get him right. He is 
an active rogue and continually rising from the bot- 
tom to the surface, at times jumping above the water 
in pursuit of his feed. He changes his home and 
feeding ground as the season passes. In the spring 
he is found in the shallow water in the streams and 
rivers, below rapids and riffles, and as the water 
warms up he moves to the deep pools lying along- 
side of windfalls and logs, rocky ledges and weedy 
spots. During the hot summer he migrates to 
greater depths where the water is cool. Likewise 

54 



At left, small-mouth black bass, weight 5 lbs. 15 oz., length 22 inches, 
girth 17 inches, landed by Albert Jay Cook of Pittsburg, Penna. This 
bass was taken from the cold waters of Black Lake, McNaughton, Wis- 
consin, during a snowstorm and it put up a snappy fight for freedom. 
The lure used was a Pflueger-Surprise Minnow, perch colored body. 



At right, large-mouth black bass, weight 7 pounds, length 22>y 2 inches, 
girth 16 inches, landed by Winfield S. Matteson, Shelbyville, Michigan. 
This bass was taken from the waters of Miller Lake, Michigan, on a very 
hot July day and the lure used was a live shiner. 



ON THE HOME LIFE OF THE BASS 55 

in the lakes, the bass are " at home," in the spring, 
in the shallowest places, lying off of the sand bars 
and gravel formation and you can count on a good 
catch close inshore in the very low water. A little 
later, when the weeds, lilies and reeds are well 
grown, you will find him in the vicinity of those 
plants. Both the large and small-mouthed bass are 
often found in the same lakes, but in different locali- 
ties. The small-mouth favors the stony bars or 
shoals varying in depth from two to forty or fifty 
feet, while the large-mouth prefers the weeds and 
muddy bottoms. 

EAST WIND NOT SO BAD 

Weather conditions have been blamed since the 
time of Noah for an empty stringer or creel. Rainy 
days, pleasant days, all kinds of winds, and especially 
an east wind, have been cussed as the cause of 
" fisherman's luck." Remember this: the bass keeps 
on filling the feed-bag just the same, and an east 
wind is better than no wind at all. You will get 
more bass when the surface of the water is slightly 
ruffled by a breeze than when fishing on a clear still 
day. Last year, at the middle of the season in 
Wisconsin, a pal and I landed 19 fine large-mouth 
bass from a little bay in something less than an hour, 
one of us casting while the other held the boat off 
shore. There was quite a stiff east wind blowing 
and the surface of the water was broken by a con- 



56 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

tinuous roll of small waves. The bass ranged from 
two and one-half to five pounds and were caught be- 
tween six and seven o'clock, after we had fished all 
day with very poor luck. These fish were caught 
with a white Wilson wobbler, with a red head, and 
a Jamison Coaxer plug. This only goes to show 
that the east wind has been given the ten-count with- 
out a chance at defense. 

BASS HAVE KEEN SIGHT 

While playing the game, don't for a minute forget 
that a bass has eyes — and he sure knows how to 
use them. Once he lamps you, your bait or lures 
are not for him, and he has moved to other quarters. 
Don't stand in the boat and open up with a per- 
sonally conducted sight-seeing tour before you cast. 
The bass also hears, and often you will think that 
he is exceptionally keen in both of these senses. 
While in a boat, bear in mind that sound vibrations 
carry farther in the water than you cast, and under- 
water sounds mean a frightened fish. Save useless 
casts in a pool from which the fish have vamoosed, 
and don't telegraph the bass before inviting him to 
come in out of the wet. 

A bass will always gorge his food, although there 
is quite a difference in his mouthing of baits. If 
you are fishing with live bait, a minnow, crawfish or 
frog, he will strike without much force and will mull 
the bait around in his mouth a bit before swallowing 



ON THE HOME LIFE OF THE BASS 57 

it; in fact, with a live minnow he will turn it around 
in his mouth and swallow it headfirst. In this case 
don't strike him too quickly, but give him a little time 
to play the bait before striking. A bass handles a 
live bait somewhat like the play of a cat with a 
mouse it has caught. Many a time I have torn a 
minnow in half through striking too soon, having 
the pleasure of baiting again instead of landing the 
bass that had a half hold on my bait. If you are 
using a wooden minnow or plug, however, strike 
quickly right after the bass strikes, as he immediately 
discovers that it is not a choice morsel of food and 
disconnects. 

STUDY THE PLACE YOU FISH 

Any nice pleasant day that you would enjoy on 
the water makes a good day for bass fishing. The 
big thing is to locate the spots where the fish are 
likely to be, at the particular time you are fishing, 
and to try out the bait or lure that pleases his fancy 
at that time. What he rises to one day may be dis- 
dainfully ignored the next. You simply must study 
each location and condition. If you have only a 
week-end trip, you naturally desire to get as much 
actual fishing as possible, and you will find that you 
will save time and get more fish by " talking it over " 
with someone who is acquainted with the waters you 
intend to fish, or better still, secure a guide if pos- 
sible. 



FLY-CASTING TACKLE FOR THE 
BEGINNER 

You want to get into the fly-casting game, but feel 
that the price of an outfit is high. That all de- 
pends, Old Man, on how you go about it. You have 
heard so much about rods at $25 to $50 and so on, 
that it makes you feel sick when you think of prac- 
ticing on such high priced tackle. You expect to 
give the tackle some hard knocks before you get the 
hang of the sport and you see your bankroll with a 
healthy case of shrinkage during the operation. 

For a starter there is no need of going deeper 
into the mint for an outfit than say $15 to $18, and 
if you do feel like playing her a little higher, $25 
makes a limit, and at that you can get a good service- 
able outfit that will take you through the season and 
give you a working practice that will make you a 
" stay-for-sure " fly-caster. 

SELECT ROD WITH CARE 

Of course every fellow wants as fine an outfit as 
he can select after he's in the game and has the rough 
edges worn off. A rod should have the same con- 
sideration that one gives to the selection of a shot- 
gun or rifle. It takes the same place in the fishing 
kit that the gun does in the hunting layout. A fel- 
low pays a good price for a gun, selecting the best 

58 



FLY-CASTING TACKLE FOR BEGINNER 59 

he can get and being mighty particular about the 
drop, the bore and all details, because he depends 
on his gun to stand him well at the right moment. 
Therefore as the rod holds the same value to the 
fisherman, the care in selection and the money put 
into it covers a big vital point in the outfit. 

However, for a starter we can select a well made 
and serviceable line of tackle at a very moderate 
cost. Here is an outfit, from which a selection can 
be made at either end, as to price, and it will cover 
tackle good enough for any beginner. You can buy 
the $5 rod or the $10 one or go anywhere between, 
and you will get good value as far as service goes. 

OUTFIT FOR THE BEGINNER 

Fly rod of split bamboo or steel, $5 to $10. 

Reel, single action, click, $1 to $5. 

Enameled waterproof silk line, $1.50. 

Half dozen 6-foot gut leaders, $1.25. 

Two dozen artificial flies, about eight patterns, $3. 

Fly book, $1.50. 

Wicker creel or basket, $2. 

Landing net (folding), $1.25. 

Leader box, 25c. 

From this list, Buck, you will see that you can go 
as low as $16.75 or as high as $25.75. Anyway 
you figure it, you will get an outfit that will be service- 
able and good enough for you to get the swing of 
fly-casting. And at that, Old Man, you will be using 



60 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

some of this stuff more than one season. Outside 
of adding perhaps a rod and a few flies the next sea- 
son, the other tackle will carry through with ease. 

In selecting your rod, make it 9 to 9^2 foot in 
length, 6 ounce weight, three-piece with extra tip, 
snake guides, German silver ferrules and solid metal 
reel seat. The rod when put together should turn 
around in the hand with exactly the same droop all 
around. It should show an even curve without lop- 
ping over to one side and have plenty of action when 
you whip or bend it. 

The line should be enameled waterproof silk, 
level braided size E. Here you can go a little 
deeper if you wish and get a double tapered line, 
which being lighter at the ends makes less friction 
in going through the guides and enables you to shoot 
out the line for greater distance in your casts; how- 
ever, a level braided line will answer the purpose. 

The reel is not as important in fly-casting as in 
bait-casting, as it is merely used to store surplus line. 
The featherweight, 60-yard size, weighing 3 ounces, 
makes a good all round reel, while the automatics 
are coming into use to a greater extent each season. 

FLIES YOU SWEAR BY 

As to the selection of flies, each fisherman has 
his own particular pets and no doubt you will load 
up on all kinds of feathery fancies, until in time you 
pick out about half a dozen that you swear by. 



FLY-CASTING TACKLE FOR BEGINNER 61 

Every other fellow in the game does that very thing 
and if you develop into a real bug, you'll have your 
" killers " as sure as shootin'. Whip a stream for 
a few hours, trying every fly in your kit without a 
rise, when the fish are " off," and then pick a fly at 
the windup when they happen to be " on," and get 
a well filled creel, and you will play that fly clean 
across the board, until the same thing happens over 
again with another fly. One well known fisherman 
who carries in his kit an assortment of about a 
dozen flies, admits that in the past five years he has 
seldom used more than three flies — and he is some 
fisherman at that, not the porch variety. 

FLIES FOR THE BEGINNER 

For the eight patterns to go with the above outfit 
let it be Coachman, Professor, Queen of Waters, 
Cow Dung, Brown Hackle, Silver Doctor, McGinty 
and Emerson Hough Buck-tail. This last named fly 
is a new one to most trout fisherman, but it sure is 
a killer. It isn't a very fancy looking cuss, just an 
ordinary sort of a fly that doesn't shine up along- 
side of the dainty looking feathery affairs, but to 
those who have used it, it holds the first place in 
their fly book, because it is certainly some creel filler. 

With the above tackle, Old Scout, you can have 
many pleasant days on the trout streams and feel 
that you are learning a game that has greater at- 
tractions every time you play it. 



ON LEARNING FLY-CASTING 

It's some jump from bait-casting with artificial 
plugs to fly-casting with the light, feathery imitations 
that coax the gamy fighters out of the waters, but 
you can make it easy enough, Old Man, by doing a 
stretch of " dry water " practice work on the back 
lawn. To the ordinary bait-caster who has accus- 
tomed himself to the stiffer, short rod, fly-casting 
with the nine or ten foot rod, weighing from five to 
six and a quarter ounces, seems like the impossible. 
Many are the yarns he has heard about the " fine art 
of fishing" — fly-casting; much has been written 
about the " science " of this end of the game, in 
fact, the average every-now-and-then, week-end 
fisherman who has become proficient in bait-casting 
has been scared to a fare-you-well at the thought of 
learning to toss the light flies and he has stuck to 
bait-casting as the " safety-first " of fishing, thereby 
missing many pleasant hours whipping streams. 

PRACTICE MAKES A FLY-CASTER 

Coming right down to rocks, you can learn fly- 
casting by a little practice with the right tackle. Of 
course, you must not get the bug in your tackle-box 
that this practice makes you an expert fly-fisherman, 

62 



ON LEARNING FLY-CASTING 63 

but it gives you a start at an angle of the game to 
which you will become a regular member as soon as 
you have whipped a stream or two. You can learn 
the action of fly-casting quite easily, and practice will 
make you in a short time a good fly-caster, but there 
is nothing whatever that will enable you to bring 
home a well filled creel, except a study of fish and 
the streams you fish, and the exercise of care and 
alertness of mind while after the game fish that rise 
to the fly. 

You can whip a stream all day with any variety 
or selection of flies without creeling a fish, if you 
don't know the habits and loafing places of the fish 
and how to cast without scaring them to death. 

TACKLE NECESSARY TO START 

Probably the best all round fly rod for all except 
the smallest of mountain brooks, is a split-bamboo 
from nine to ten feet, weighing from five to six 
ounces. My preference is the nine and a half footer 
for general casting, with 25 yards of waterproof 
enameled silk line, size E or F, according to the 
weight of the rod; E for the heavier and F for the 
lighter one. An ordinary single action click reel of 
100 yards capacity is necessary. Don't bother with 
a leader for the lawn practice but save it for the 
real fishing, although you can tie a very small piece 
of white string on the end of the line to locate the 
end easily and so note the distance from your target. 



64 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 
TRYING OUT THE CAST 

Peg down a newspaper or small cloth on the lawn, 
take a position facing it, say 25 feet away, place the 
reel on the underside of the rod with the handle to 
the right and keep it there at all times. Grasp the 
rod in the right hand, reel under, with the thumb 
straight along the top of the grip — never curved 
around the grip. Cast out about ten feet of line let- 
ting it fall in front of you on a line with the target 
and with the left hand unreel about fifteen feet of 
line — do not pass this line through the guides and 
out the tip, but let it drop to the ground at your feet, 
retaining a hold on the line about a foot this side of 
the first guide. Now point your rod at the target, 
keeping your arm as far as the elbow close to the 
body (this is essential, because the forearm and wrist 
must do the work) swing the rod up to a vertical 
position, slowly at first, taking up loose line, and end 
with a strong, quick wrist and forearm motion. 
This throws the line in the air and the swing of the 
rod carries it back over the shoulder, but be sure 
to stop the cast when the thumb along the grip shows 
that the rod is vertical; more casts are killed by too 
much of a swing over the shoulder than any other 
way. This is the first half of the cast and is called 
the back cast. This cast causes the line to fly out 
behind you and the instant you feel the slightest tug 
on the rod you know that the line has straightened 



ON LEARNING FLY-CASTING 65 

out behind and at this point you should start the for- 
ward cast. Make the forward cast by beginning it 
with an easy swing, putting the steam on at the wind- 
up, and stopping the cast with a snap when parallel 
with the ground. 

BIG POINTS TO REMEMBER 

The main points to watch are: Make the back 
cast forcibly. Not to swing the rod back too far on 
the back cast (keeping it at vertical rather than back 
farther) to start the forward cast at the slightest 
pull of the line, to start forward cast mildly, finish 
it strong, and not to lower the rod too near the 
water at the wind up. 

To prevent the fly from landing with a splash, 
cast at a point in the air about a yard above the 
target, and to make it fall lightly on the water, raise 
the tip of the rod gently just before the fly lights. 
If you wait too long before making the forward cast 
the line will drop behind you and go dead, and to 
make a successful cast the line must be alive and in 
motion from the first rise of the rod to the drop of 
the fly. If you start the forward cast before the 
line straightens out behind, indicated by the tug on 
the rod, you will likely snap off the flies. If you 
have failed to reach the target, go through the same 
operation of casts again, drawing a few yards more 
of line off the reel. In fly fishing it is well to fish 
the near waters first, increasing the distance with 



66 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

each cast. Outside of having some fly-caster coach 
you there is no way to learn the game, except to 
keep at it until you have trained the wrist to do the 
work through the eye and the rod. 



HIS MAJESTY THE BROOK TROUT 

Without a doubt, I feel like tacking the blue rib- 
bon on the brook trout for being the wisest, liveliest 
and gamest of the fresh-water fish. For downright 
nerve and fight he is in a class by himself and he 
carries more tricks in his tail than any other fish. 
He is truly an American and of a sturdy type that 
can forage a living in any stream or spring-fed lake 
that is cool. Although he does not grow as large 
as his cousin, the rainbow trout from the West, or 
his foreign relative, the brown, or German trout, for 
his small size and weight he puts up the keenest fight 
of the trout family. 

The trout is trim-built, with graceful lines, and 
his constant battle with swift currents makes him a 
strong, husky youngster. As a general thing he is 
found in the small flowing streams where the water 
is cold and fresh, while the rainbow and brown trout 
can thrive in warmer and deeper streams as well as 
lakes. As a rule I have found the rainbow and 
brown trout in the roily waters below falls, in the 
swift rapids, and the brook trout in the quieter pools, 
especially those with grassy beds. The trout is a 
rapacious feeder, and takes his food from the sur- 

67 



68 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

face, in midwater and at the bottom; he is, however, 
mostly a surface feeder and dotes on flies, grass- 
hoppers, insects, worms, small minnows, and even 
small frogs. 

TROUT HAS KEEN SIGHT 

Undoubtedly, he has the keenest sight of any fish, 
and evidently he watches his prey before it strikes 
the water, as he will close his jaws on a fly the in- 
stant it hits the water, often leaping up and catching 
it on the wing. It's a pretty good guess that he 
watches the flies or insects as they fly over the water, 
and this same sight makes it necessary for the rod 
wielder to match his wits against those of Mr. B. 
Trout. 

Trout are caught with artificial flies, grasshoppers, 
worms, minnows, crickets, grubs and almost any 
small insects that are found along streams, and also 
with very small spoons. When fishing with a fly it 
should be kept in motion, imitating as nearly as 
possible the movements of a fly that has dropped on 
the surface and is struggling to rise again. This 
can be accomplished by a slight broken twitching of 
the wrist. When a trout takes the fly, strike quickly, 
but not with a heavy jerk, as only a slight move of 
the wrist is necessary. In taking a fly he snaps his 
jaws together over the fly, but is quick to throw 
out the artificial feathery substitute for a square 
meal. 



HIS MAJESTY THE BROOK TROUT 69 

LOT DEPENDS ON ROD WORK 

The sport begins with a rush right after you hook 
your fish, and you sure have to work your gray mat- 
ter before you can creel a trout. He seems to know 
every rift, rooted hold, snag or windfall in the 
stream, and you've got to keep your mind on the 
game to keep him from reaching cover, which means 
a lost fish and a snagged line. Let your rod do most 
of the work — that's what a good fly rod is for — 
keep your line tight, and at no time give any slack, 
as the trout may not be securely hooked and a slack 
line gives him a chance to cough out the fly. You 
will find the trout is more quickly landed if worked 
downstream, especially with a large fish, as the cur- 
rent is in your favor. Keep the rod well up and the 
line shortened, as a short line gives better control 
over the fish, and you need every extra bit of ad- 
vantage, because the sole object of the trout is to 
get away, and at that game he is some little getter. 

FISH UP AND DOWN STREAM 

If you are fishing a slow-running stream it is best 
to fish upstream, and on swift-running streams fish 
down, making it a point to walk around pools and 
fish them from the lower end up to the head. In 
fishing upstream the fly comes quickly down with the 
current; this can be slowed up by casting diagonally 
up and across. In fishing a riffles or broken water 



70 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

cast from below, as the trout heads upstream in 
swift waters and is not as likely to lamp you. In 
fishing a very small stream, where casting is prac- 
tically impossible owing to the brush, the flies can be 
guided twenty to thirty feet ahead by the rod and 
run into every likely spot and nook, as the current 
and rod do the work, taking the fly around rocks and 
eddies, where the fish lie awaiting the natural flies 
and insects as they float downstream. 

TROUT GORGE ANGLEWORMS 

Early in the season the common angleworm is 
considered a delicacy by the trout and if this bait is 
floated downstream under a shelving bank or around 
a log, which makes an ideal hiding place for trout, 
it's a twenty-to-one shot that another fish will be 
added to the creel. Hook the worm so that the 
entire hook is covered, using a No. 6 or 8 snelled 
hook. Always fish downstream with worms, as the 
natural action of the current carries the worms down 
stream. Let the bait float from about thirty feet 
above the spot where you anticipate the trout are 
lying and throw in the shut-off on all noise. 

Do not try to exceed the speed limit, but fish every 
pool as you go along. Many fish are missed through 
hurrying along and fishing only the most likely holes. 
The careful fisherman brings home the best creel, and 
care with a cap " C " is the big thing in fishing for 
the crafty, gamy trout. 



RAINBOWS AND BROWNS 

When it comes to trouting, Old Timer, the little 
old native brook trout holds a warmer place in the 
heart of the average fly tosser than either the rain- 
bow or the brown, but as a general thing these last 
named fins grow to a huskier size than the brook 
trout and with the added weight and the regular 
trout instinct they put up as fancy a fight as any angler 
could wish for. And they have one little trick that 
the brook trout seldom, if ever, pulls and that is the 
leaping out of the water on a slack line, just about 
the same kind of a leap as the bass and particularly 
the brown trout pulls, the same all-body shake of the 
bronze backer. For that one little old trick we gotta 
give 'em credit, it's the snappy unexpected leap out 
of the water that puts the pep into the sport and 
makes the fisherman keep his mind, eye and hands 
in the game. 

BROWNIE A HARDY FISH 

The brown trout is a hardier fish than the -brook 
trout and for that reason has been stocked in streams 
that have become too sluggish and warm for the 
brook. This change in temperature of the waters 
is due to the cutting out of timber and in many 
streams the waters have warmed up to such an ex- 
tent that the native trout have passed to the happy 

7i 



72 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

fishing waters. Many streams of this character if 
stocked with the brown brothers would in a short 
time make fishing in them sport of the highest class. 
The brown trout is a killer and the fact that he has 
been planted in streams in which the native brook 
trout held domain, and then routed this little sport 
out of his home waters has in a way given him a bad 
name with some of the frat, but plant him in waters 
that have been deserted by the brook and you will 
be surprised at his rapid growth and the amount of 
kick he develops in his tail in a few years. He tacks 
on weight like an off-season ball player, running up a 
score of about a pound a year, which sizes him up 
well in a short time. 

While the larger brown boys are generally found 
in the deeper water and the pools, which is often the 
hiding place of the larger brook trout, the smaller 
fins of the tribe weighing around the one- to three- 
pound limit are found in the swifter and more broken 
waters, especially in the waters cut up by rocks and 
bowlders. In this white water he is nearly always 
found on the upper side of the bowlders, keenly on 
the lookout for the food as it comes down stream. 

STRIKES WITH GREAT FORCE 

Although the brown trout is not as speedy in his 
fight as the native brook trout, he takes to the arti- 
ficial fly with a drive that sure has some punch and 
it is often unnecessary to strike him, for the simple 



RAINBOWS AND BROWNS 73 

reason that he has hooked himself in his energetic 
wallop at the feathery fancy tossed to him. And 
when he is hooked, Old Scout, he puts up a fight 
right up to the net and then some. He makes a long 
steady fight and often when brought to net will start 
out on another round just when you think you have 
him " heading " in. 

On water that is not too broken or swift give him 
a try-out with the dry-fly, especially in fishing the 
pools and deeper water. In the fast white water 
the wet-fly fishing will be found more effective; in 
fact, it is almost an impossibility to really fish an 
entirely dry-fly on such waters, and you'll save time 
and cussin' by starting in with the wet riggin'. 

The rainbow trout, like the brown, feels entirely 
at home in the warmer waters of the streams that 
have been passed up by the brook trout, and he dotes 
on minnows and the insects he can forage from the 
surface. To him, a grasshopper is a dainty morsel 
and many of the big ones have been tricked into the 
creel by the wise angler who hooks on a lively hopper 
and casts it the same as a feathery fly, letting it float 
with the current in a natural manner and not trying 
to liven it up with a bunch of jerks in an effort to 
fool the wise old fellows. 

RAINBOW A SPEEDY FIGHTER 

The rainbow carries more speed in his make-up 
than the brown trout, making a faster fight in every 



74 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

way; fact is, his battle with the fly resembles the fight 
of the native brook trout far more than that of the 
brown boys. About the first thing he does when 
hooked is to go up into the air, both figuratively and 
leapingly speaking, and his leap is a thing of beauty, 
way up out of the water, generally, and at this point 
of the game many of them depart to other waters, 
having passed up the fly on the way. 

The rainbow is a voracious cuss and speedier to 
accept an invitation to strike than either the brown 
or native trout, whether you offer him the fly, min- 
now, spinner or the small rubber artificial minnows. 
Early in the season the worm, scorned by many 
fishermen as the " garden hackle," makes 'em sit up 
on their tail and take notice, although later the flies 
and minnows are the most attractive lures. The 
fellow who usually howls with horror when you men- 
tion worms in the same breath with trout, is gener- 
ally the cherub who sneaks out alone with a nice 
bait-can full of the wigglers and proceeds to play a 
little solitaire on the stream. In the early season the 
worm with the usual light trouting tackle is no kid's 
bait for trout; many a sure-enough fisherman finds it 
necessary to play the game with his utmost skill and 
knowledge of the trout to coax 'em into the creel 
even on worms. 

In a selection of flies for the rainbow and brown 
trout, the usual flies used for the native brook are 
effective, playing up strong on the hackles, making 



RAINBOWS AND BROWNS 75 

it a point to include a March Brown and a McGinty. 
The tackle for the big fellows can be a bit stronger 
than that for the brook trout and still be in the light 
tackle class, say a ten-foot, six-ounce fly-rod and a 
strong leader for the fight with the husky boys in the 
swift waters, or the old grand-daddy of the deep 
pool. 



FLY-CASTING FOR BASS 

Going after the husky bass with the light fly rod 
is sure the right system of fishing, if you have a desire 
to cultivate the tingling nerves and the thumping 
pulse. Nothing in the game will give you more 
thrills than to have a two- or three-pound bass take 
the feathers and then try to shake 'em loose — that 
is, of course, if you are handling the working end 
of the rod. And if this old bass is a stream-raised 
fellow, he will give you more fight than any other 
fish, weight for weight. 

A knowledge of the waters to be fished and an 
understanding of the haunts and habits of the bass 
are more essential when fishing for him with the fly 
than in any other angle of the sport. Casting for 
the bass in the deep waters when he is in the shallows 
will simply give you practice ; you must know the time 
of year when he haunts the deep pools, and when he 
is found in the shallows, and this working knowledge 
only comes from study and observation. 

STREAM FISHING SOME SPORT 

Wading a stream and whipping the water in a 
semicircle as you go along is far more enjoyable than 
lake fly-casting, and at the same time a stream that 

76 



FLY-CASTING FOR BASS 77 

can be waded makes about the best kind of bass 
water for the use of the fly. The shallow pools 
above and below riffles or rapids is a likely spot for 
the hungry bass as well as the eddies along the sides 
of rapids. Cast into the swirl of water as it passes 
around a bowlder, and off the edge of the windfalls, 
logs and brush heaps, all of which locations are 
generally the loafing place of a fine old bass. 

In lake fishing with the fly the bright, sunny day is 
not for you. The bass rise to the fly particularly on 
a day when the surface is broken by a slight breeze, 
and the best time for casting is in the early morning 
and late in the evening. From sunset to dark is the 
best time when the day has been bright — in fact, 
most any day. On the lake cast your fly inshore on 
the bars and shallows or ledges and off the edges of 
lily pads, rushes and weed beds, as well as alongside 
the half-submerged logs and windfalls along shore. 
The fly should be allowed to sink considerably and a 
slightly jerky crawl given to it when working in the 
line. This is done to fool the bass into believing 
the object of the fly-maker's art is a struggling insect 
trying to get out of the wet. Whether it fools 'em 
or not is something I don't know, but I think they 
strike it out of curiosity more than anything else. I 
have seen the greenest beginner take a whirl at toss- 
ing the feathery morsels and by using care and judg- 
ment in the approach, land some fine bass, although 
at the time he did not know what motions the fly 



78 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

was taking at any one time. But he did know and 
realize that the bass is a wise old bird and that you 
have to go at him on the gumshoe order if you expect 
to land him on a fly. 

BETTER TO FISH DOWNSTREAM 

On a stream it is preferable to. fish downstream, 
as the bass lie with the head upstream, and with the 
current carrying your fly on its natural course the 
bass have more chance to see it and thus become a 
possible candidate for the creel. Then again, it is 
far easier to wade downstream than it is to go up. 

For dark days and early evening use light-colored 
flies, and for the bright days the darker flies. 
Smaller flies of a subdued color tied on a No. 6 or 7 
hook is right for low, clear water on a bright day, 
while for after sunset and moonlight casting the gray, 
white and brown flies tied on a larger hook, a No. 
2 or 4 size, are more likely to attract the fish than 
the smaller ones. For rough and turbid water the 
brightly colored feathers are best. In selecting your 
flies don't overlook the black, brown and gray 
hackles; you will often find that the old reliable 
hackles will bring a rise after you have tried every 
other combination in your fly book. 

THE FLIES YOU USE 

Nearly every fellow that whips the light fly rod 
has his own particular selection of flies, and by these 



FLY-CASTING FOR BASS 79 

he swears like a pagan; however, for the beginner 
the following selection, besides the hackles, will give 
a fairly varied assortment that will pass muster until 
he creels the first fish, and the fly used at that time 
will no doubt be given the place of honor in his pet 
list. I have found these flies creel fillers: Queen 
of the Waters, Lord Baltimore, Montreal, Grizzly 
King, Coachman, Professor, Red Ibis, Seth Green, 
White Miller, King of the Water, Ferguson, Mc- 
Ginty, Emerson Hough, Silver Doctor and Parman- 
chee Belle. Here are flies of enough variety in color 
for all kinds of water and as you make up your own 
list you will find that many of the above will be re- 
tained, as they have made good from the start with 
many fishermen. 

KEEP OUT OF SIGHT 

One of the essentials in bassing with the fly is to 
keep out of sight of the fish as much as possible. 
The bass is every bit as scary as the trout, although 
once he sees you he will not dart away and disappear 
like the trout, but will dash off a little distance and 
stop, facing you. However, don't waste time trying 
to make him take your fly, because he has a case of 
" nerves " and you can cast it right over his nose and 
he merely gives it a disinterested glance. On the 
small bass streams keep entirely out of sight and on 
the wider waters make a long cast; the finer the 
water, the more caution and the longer the cast. On 



80 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

casting from the shore it is well to be screened by 
bushes or any natural formation. Wading is the 
best method, however, as the nearer you are to the 
water the less chance the fish have of seeing you, 
and even at that you should be as quiet as possible 
and make it a point to avoid quick or sudden moves. 
Cast your flies as lightly as possible, avoid letting 
them land with a splash by slightly raising the tip 
of the rod just before they touch the water, and let 
the current help you by allowing the flies to run with 
it. 



ON FISHING THE DRY-FLY 

Without a doubt, Old Scout, learning to cast the 
dry or floating fly is the post-graduate study in the 
fine art of fishing and there is more real enjoyment 
in coaxing the wise old trout into the creel by this 
method than any other angle of the sport. All the 
knowledge you have gained through study of the 
habits of the trout in your wet-fly casting will stand 
you well as a beginner at this end of the game. 

Dry-fly casting comes to us from England, where 
it is practiced to a finish, and as the sport has been 
adopted here, changes have been made in the manner 
of using the dry-fly, occasioned by the difference in 
the streams of this country and England. In that 
country it is the custom to cast to a rising trout, or 
at a point where a trout is expected to rise, and on 
the placid, slow, smooth-running waters of England 
this can be done with success, while over here the 
swifter running waters in which we find the wiley 
trout are not so adaptable for casting to the rise. 
The dry-fly caster generally fishes all the water, as in 
wet-fly casting. In fact, in fishing a stream the 
quieter pools and stretches can be worked with the 
dry-fly, and the more broken and white water given 
over to the wet-fly. In this way a stream can be 

81 



82 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

whipped with more success and pleasure than by 
either one of the methods alone. 

ALL KINDS OF WATER 

Most of our trout fishing is on streams in the 
woods or wilderness where the waters alternate be- 
tween rapids and smooth spots, waterfall and deep 
pool, shallows or riffles, and one could follow a 
stream all day without lamping a trout on the rise 
for food, so that if he were fishing in the orthodox 
English way, bacon fried to a crisp would about make 
up his evening meal. This accounts for the fact that 
we have changed the dope a bit and fish the dry-fly 
more as a floating fly without the added effort of 
tossing the feathers into the mouth of the waiting 
trout and tickling him to death. 

On a very civilized stream that has been fished 
to a fare-you-well by all manner of fishermen, where 
the trout have wised up to tricks of the game, the 
dry-fly will get a rise when the wet-fly would merely 
cause a wink of the weather eye. 

In casting the dry-fly the fisherman works up- 
stream, casting slightly across the current, so that the 
floating fly will ride down with the current, and a 
very essential detail is to cast lightly and accurately, 
while it is not necessary to cast as long a line as in 
wet-fly casting. The whole game is to have the fly 
float down as naturally as possible, and it requires 
considerable skill in the handling of the rod and the 



ON FISHING THE DRY-FLY 83 

reeling in of slack to keep the fly from being pulled 
under the water by the weight of a slack line or 
through some other rough work of the caster. 

HORIZONTAL CAST THE BEST 

Wherever possible, the horizontal cast should be 
used in preference to the overhead cast, as the fly is 
more likely to land right side up with the wings 
cocked. While more accuracy and distance are ob- 
tained by the overhead cast, these things are not as 
essential in dry-fly casting as having the fly ride the 
water in a natural manner. As a general thing the 
fly lights on the water on its side when the overhead 
cast is used, and although a trout will rise to a float- 
ing fly in this position, the chances are greater for 
a rise when the fly lies on the water in the position 
naturally taken by a live insect with its wings flutter- 
ing above the water in its effort to rise from the 
surface. 

In casting a smooth stretch of water there is little 
if any drag of the line, and the fly will float in an 
upright position if cast skillfully in the first place. 

In the early season, when the water is high and 
discolored by flooded conditions, the trout are bottom 
or midwater feeding, and at this time the dry-fly is 
of little use on the streams. As soon as the air 
warms up a bit and the insect life has developed on 
the streams and the water clears, with the tempera- 
ture rising steadily, the floating fly is a sure winner. 



84 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

From the middle of May to the end of the season 
the conditions grow more favorable to the dry-fly, 
and on low, clear water at the tail end of the season 
it is by far the most effective lure. 

On any water that is not broken by rapids or riffles, 
the dry-fly can be used to advantage, and even on 
waters that are swift and rapid it will be found 
effective. 

STUDY AND SKILL NECESSARY 

One of the main points in casting the dry-fly is to 
study the currents, as one of the greatest little old 
jinks to the successful use of the dry-fly is the drag 
caused by the fly falling on water moving at a speed 
different from that of the water on which the line 
falls. Select your casting position where the fly and 
line will light on water of the same speed, so that 
the fly will not be drowned by the drag of the line. 
Another point that will make your dry-fly work bet- 
ter at the start is to avoid raising the tip of the rod 
as the fly falls on the water, and this is a small point 
that the wet-fly fisherman has a tendency to overlook 
through habit acquired in casting the wet feathers. 
To raise the rod at this time will pull the dry-fly 
under water. At the same time the beginner should 
never strip in the line until the fly has started down- 
stream with the current. If you find it necessary to 
cast on waters of different speed to the current, cast 
a slack line, and if the fly lights on water moving 



ON FISHING THE DRY-FLY 85 

slower than that on which the line rests there will 
be no drag on the fly until the slack line has floated 
downstream. Make a study of the stream and the 
trout and use all your skill and you will find much 
pleasure in floating the dry-fly. 



BASS IN THE RIVERS AND STREAMS 

There are many reasons for giving the black bass 
the title of " gamest fish of fresh water." For his 
size and weight he puts up as snappy a fight as any 
fisherman could wish for. Take a small-mouth bass 
in a swift-running stream and it will be a case of 
matching your knowledge of the fishing game against 
his keenly developed instinct, and at that, you have 
to keep your eyes open or he will slip one over on 
you and break for other waters. 

When it comes to main strength the bass, for its 
size, carries a larger package of that stuff than any 
other fish. Often, when hooked, it will plunge to 
the bottom and stick there to a fare-you-well. 
Nothing can budge him except your strength against 
his husky muscular development, and this puts a 
heavy strain on your tackle that often shows up a 
weak point in your equipment — and then it's " good- 
by " bass. At times you will think that the bass has 
edged into a rocky crevice and propped his strong 
fins against the sides to give him leverage, and be- 
lieve me, he has sense enough to do it. He is wise 
enough to dart around submerged rocks and saw a 
line or gut leader on the ragged edges and make his 
getaway. He will often go down to the bottom and 

86 



Where the stream makes a bend and the water speeds up a bit, form- 
ing eddies and back currents, you can count on good bass fishing. Cast- 
ing among the submerged rocks at this bend in the Wisconsin River, 
into the quieter water, added five nice small-mouth bass to the pack- 
sack. 



Good stream bass water. In the eddies and back-water along side 
of the rapids and riffles. Here's where the bass kick around waiting for 
the tail weary minnows that try to fight the swifter waters and in their 
weakened condition they make easy feed for the wise bass. From this 
eddy, seven bass were taken by casting down and slowly reeling in a- 
semi-surface plug. 



BASS IN THE RIVERS AND STREAMS 87 

imitate a bull pup, giving a series of short, snappy- 
jerks until something gives in the tackle line. 

ONE OF HIS MANY TRICKS 

One of his stock tricks is to watch your line, and 
the moment he gets a little slack, up out of the water 
he jumps, giving a shake that would make a fair- 
sized " musky " turn green with envy. This is not 
merely a shake of the head such as is stated by some 
fishermen, but a strong jerky shake that brings 
into play all the muscles of his body. He does not 
stop at one jump, but will leap repeatedly into the 
air, each time giving a master shake of his husky 
body. After the first leap you may think you have 
lost him and start reeling in, when, 20 feet away 
from his first flop, up he comes again. This is his 
method of showing an amateur how a well developed 
bass loosens a hook from his mouth, and unless you 
reel in that slack mighty quick, he will sure show 
you. 

ON HIS WAY UP-STREAM 

The bass is always on the move upstream, which 
is likely caused by the scarcity of natural food in the 
lower waters. He has no love for rapids or riffles 
and is seldom if ever found in them, but in the quieter 
waters at the lower end of a rapids or in the eddies 
on either side he is right at home. Although he does 
not like the rougher, swifter waters of the rapids and 



88 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

riffles, he will often dash into their frothy edge in 
pursuit of minnows, returning at once to the quieter 
water. He will also dash into very shallow water 
after some of the small fry, often in water so low 
that his dorsal fin is entirely out of the water, return- 
ing instantly, however, to the deeper water with his 
catch. In his up-stream migration he will often loaf 
in pools below the rougher, shallower waters of the 
riffles until rainy weather raises the water and makes 
swimming better for him. Right after high water 
makes poor fishing in most cases, as the bass have 
gone up stream to new localities, and as the new 
feeding grounds are generally alive with eats carried 
down by the current, this gives him a period of easy 
feeding. As a rule the bass does most of his feed- 
ing in the shallows or below riffles, going to the deep 
pools for rest and digestion of his overfilled feedbag, 
at which time it is very difficult to coax him with any 
lure or bait. 

SPORTS IN THE MOONLIGHT 

On a moonlight night the bass can be seen jump- 
ing up out of the water, having a general good time, 
just like a bunch of kids in the old " swimmin' hole." 
They are good night feeders and are generally close 
to the surface at that time. That they come to the 
surface at night was shown to me in a striking man- 
ner a few years ago. While frogging one night 
above a riffles in the Mahoning River in eastern 



BASS IN THE RIVERS AND STREAMS 89 

Ohio, I was slowly rowing across the river when 
something flopped into the boat behind me. After a 
few exciting moments of considerable activity the 
flopper proved to be a 3 y^ -pound large-mouth bass, 
and the following night in practically the same spot, 
another bass, larger by half a pound, flopped into 
the boat while the wife was piloting a bunch of 
suffragettes on a hunt for a mess of frogs. Later I 
fished this stretch of water with a moonlight Mascot 
wobbler and caught quite a few strings of fine bass, 
particularly fine, I thought, for such " civilized " 
waters. 

Bass fishing in the streams, rivers and lakes will 
be better each year, as the steady stocking of all 
civilized waters and the rapid increase of the fish, 
as well as the adaptability of the large-mouth to all 
waters, means good bass fishing, which is a keen 
sport for anyone. 



GOIN' AFTER MUSKY 

So you're out for the big ones, the " tiger " of the 
waters, the great old rascal that makes 'em all sit up 
and doff the lid. You've bassed, trouted, and piked 
and panned a bit, now you feel like taking a whirl at 
the boss of the tribe, caused no doubt by the many 
tales that have been spun about this Villa of the 
weedbeds. No matter how harrowing the tale may 
be, Old Man, the muskellunge is guilty of everything 
that has been said about him. And at that he still 
has a deck full of tricks he has never sprung on the 
countless Waltons who try to give him the once-over. 
He has caused more nervous prostration than the 
bright lights, and take it from me, hooking a 20- or 
30-pound musky unawares is no game for a nervous 
player. From the moment of the strike, it's a case 
of your wits against those of the musky, and you've 
got to think fast or you'll find yourself reeling in a 
slack line, with the musky doing the famous fade- 
away. 

The musky is a vicious cuss and he sure looks the 
part. He has a pair of jaws set with a bunch of 
sharp saw-like teeth that would make a shark jealous, 
the lower jaw projecting beyond the upper, giving 

90 



Airs. J. G. McCarthy, of Chicago, Illinois, with a 38-pound muskel- 
lunge she landed, unassisted, on Sept. 25, 1916, in Big Lake St. Germain, 
Wisconsin. This is one of the largest musky on record having been 
landed by a woman, with light bass tackle. The lure used was a No. 9 
Skinner Spoon, the rod a six-ounce affair, and the big fin fought twenty- 
two minutes before he was willing to give in to the tackle skill of Mrs. 
McCarthy. 



GOIN' AFTER MUSKY 91 

him a wolf-like appearance, and he certainly is a wolf 
by nature. He feeds on all fish smaller than him- 
self, even his own kind, and is not adverse to gobbling 
up a young duck or other aquatic bird that happens 
to. pass his way. He will strike at most anything 
moving in the water, and once hooked he will put up 
a thrilling and savage fight equaled by no other 
fresh-water fish. 

WHERE TO FIND HIM 

His favorite haunt is in about 5 to 15 feet of 
water near the weeds, water lilies or grass that grow 
in the water, or alongside of submerged rocks. He 
is a solitary fellow, doesn't make any friends, but 
just lies around waiting for a piece of food to go 
swimming by, then makes a lightninglike dart, snaps 
his powerful jaws shut on his victim and swims back 
to his station and gorges the eats, ready in a minute 
to make another foray. He always strikes a fish or 
lure sideways, and there is no special time when he 
is feeding; fact is, he seems to be hungry all the time, 
although he is more active from eight to eleven in 
the morning and from four until dark. When the 
water is slightly roughened* by the wind and break- 
ing in small waves or when the day is overcast, makes 
good musky weather, although he may surprise you 
and strike your lure while you are trolling into shore 
to make a landing for the noonday lunch, and a sud- 
den strike of a musky is sure a shocker. 



92 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

THE BEST TIME 

Musky fishing is very good in June, unless the 
season is extremely cold and backward. Towards 
the tail end of July it slows up considerably, while 
August is the poorest month for the big chief. Dur- 
ing " dog days " his teeth are in poor shape and 
you can hardly coax a strike out of him unless he 
feels so down in the mouth and mean that he strikes 
from pure cussedness. Like a snake shedding its 
skin and the deer its horns, the musky loses its teeth 
in August, but nature packs in a new set by the first 
of September and the old boy is in a fine fighting 
humor for that month. By far the best musky fish- 
ing is to be had in September and October, when 
the chill night air seems to fill them with an extra 
supply of pep for the food hunt the next day. Even 
up into November is not too late for the big ones, 
but for downright good musky fishing it is hard to 
beat September and October. 

STRIKES IN SNOWSTORM 

A few seasons ago a well-known fisherman who 
has wet his line from Alaska to the Florida Keys 
caught a 38-pound musky late in October in northern 
Wisconsin in a blinding snowstorm. The wind was 
blowing a half gale and the strike was made on the 
final cast before running in to camp before the 
storm. It was some game to land this husky 



GOIN' AFTER MUSKY 93 

" granddaddy " of the bunch; the cold waters keyed 
him up to the highest pitch and he made a series of 
rushes and dives that took keen work to hold him, 
while his breaks from the water included a bunch 
of musky tricks unheard of in the fish caught during 
the warmer days of summer and early fall. The 
air was so cold that after bringing the musky to 
gaff the fisherman's hands were actually stiffened on 
to the rod. 

TROLL AND CAST 

In the past most of the boys have contented 
themselves with trolling for the musky, but the real 
sport of the game is to cast for them, using the same 
method as that of casting for bass. In trolling for 
musky a silk braided line of 20 to 30 pounds test 
is about right, while a six-thread Cuttyhunk linen 
line is preferred by some. For a trolling lure the 
spoon hook holds first place and is no doubt the 
best little all-around bait. Use a chub, shiner, black 
sucker or pork rind with a spoon as an added at- 
traction, and if this don't seem to make 'em curious, 
put a strip of red flannel about six inches long on the 
hooks and let that wiggle through the water a bit 
as an enticer. Some mighty fine ones have been 
caught with this rig. Most beginners load the line 
with a whopping big spoon, even up to No. 12 size. 
Keep her down, Old Man, to a No. 4 or No. 6 for 
the single spoon, and No. 3 or No. 4 for the tandem 



94 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

style. For a good stiff rod for the beginner make 
it a steel one, and the No. 33 Bristol will fill the bill 
for either casting or trolling for the musky. Of 
course if you are a double-dyed expert you can use 
your lighter rod and tackle, but unless one is an ex- 
pert at handling the lighter tackle he had better stick 
to the slightly heavier stuff and feel more sure of 
the fish. A musky can sure make a fine outfit look 
like a junk shop if it's handled by an inexperienced 
fisherman. Troll in water about 8 to 12 feet deep, 
off the edges of the weedbeds and over the under- 
water weeds; also off the rock beds and points of 
land as well as quiet coves and bays. Keep your 
rod straight out behind the boat; if you hold it out 
over the side you put a strain on it that is unneces- 
sary and bad medicine for any rod. 

In casting for the musky keep the boat about 50 
feet off the casting waters, moving the boat as noise- 
lessly as possible and casting in towards the shore or 
feeding grounds. An all white or white and red 
head artificial minnow, or spoon and pork rind, frog 
or minnow makes a good casting lure. From the 
strike the fight is fast and gamy and you sure must 
keep the slack out of the line or he'll do a flop out 
of the water and corkscrew back on your line, which 
means farewell to the musky. 



HIS HONOR, THE WALL-EYED PIKE 

Right at the start, Old Man, I must tell you that 
the wall-eyed pike is living under an assumed name. 
His real monicker is pike-perch, but the boys have 
sort of acquired the habit of calling him wall-eyed 
pike, and so we let it go at that. Fact is, however, 
he is also known as the jack-salmon, glass-eye pike, 
yellow pike, and blue pike. He probably fell heir 
to these names on account of his habit of bumming 
around, making no particular spot his home. After 
he fathers his spring family of from one to two hun- 
dred thousand husky youngsters, and the little pikers 
have learned to wag their tails, he leaves home and 
hikes out on a still hunt for food, as he is always 
hungry, having the reputation of being the heaviest 
eater of the fresh-water fish. He lives almost en- 
tirely on other live fish, and often eats his own 
progeny to satisfy his lust for food. 

Where you find the wall-eyed in good numbers 
one day, does not guarantee that they will congre- 
gate there the next. There is no dope on his route 
and he has no schedule. At times he frequents the 
very deep pools and the next day he may be lying 

95 



96 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

off a shoal or sandbar. No matter in what depth 
of water you locate him, however, you will find that 
he is close to the bottom, as he is not a surface 
feeder. 

WALL-EYE TRAVELS IN SCHOOLS 

He can be coaxed out of the water with live bait 
such as mud minnows, chubs, shiners or small white- 
bellied frogs, or you can use an underwater plug 
weighted with a sinker, or troll with a spoon. The 
wall-eyed seldom travels single, but invariably runs 
in schools, a habit acquired no doubt from fear that 
he may miss a feed. Where you catch one you can 
figure on more fish from the same spot, until they 
hustle off to locate better feeding grounds. This 
hungry feeling makes him a great little biter, and 
said feeling has also made him a boon to the fisher- 
man, who can always count on " bringing home the 
bacon " if he locates a pike feeding ground. 

In the rivers he hangs out below rapids, dams 
and log jams, where the current is swift, gorging on 
the minnows, which are easy prey, as they are tired 
out with their battle against the swift currents. 
This is a fine place to cast for him, using live or 
artificial bait, with a fair-sized dipsey sinker to take 
the bait down deep in the water. He also has a 
fancy for sandbars in the rivers, and wading along 
a bar, casting on both sides, brings good results. 



HIS HONOR, THE WALL-EYED PIKE 97 
TROLL FOR HIM IN LAKES 

In the lakes you will be more successful in trolling 
for the wall-eye. Live bait, plug or a spoon with a 
buck-tail gang hook makes an atractive lure for him. 
Use your bait-casting rod, with a trolling tip to add 
strength, and reel out about a hundred feet of line. 
Don't make the common mistake of moving the boat 
too speedily; just go along fast enough to keep the 
bait moving — about one and a half miles an hour is 
right. When you get a strike you will notice the 
difference between the action of a bass and a wall- 
eyed pike. The pike will give a firm and decided 
tug at the line, but will not dash away with the bait, 
and right then is the time to strike, with a strong, 
quick jerk, as the large amount of line out makes 
this necessary. And if that wall-eye is a ten or fif- 
teen pounder, you are due to have as game a piece 
of " fish work " on your hands as you could wish for. 

CAUGHT A BIG ONE ACCIDENTALLY 

Last summer I was actually forced by accident to 
land a twelve and a half-pound wall-eyed pike, and 
the way this happened illustrates the fact that one 
must study the action of the different fish, and es- 
pecially the manner in which they take bait. It was 
a hot old day in July when a pal and I were cross- 
ing Black Lake in northern Wisconsin, so hot, in 



98 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

fact, that I only put a line out after Earney, the 
local fishing expert, insisted that he hated to waste 
a minute on the water. We were in about thirty 
feet of water when my reel began to sing, but there 
was no other action, and, after striking, we paddled 
back, thinking I was snagged. Earney ran his 
hand along the line and gave it a jerk to loosen it, 
and right then things sure opened up. Splash out 
of the water, at the side of the canoe, flashed the 
pike, and down again to the bottom. It was some 
sport with a light rod, a ten-pound test bass line, and 
a husky wall-eye. Three times I brought him up 
to the canoe, fighting back and forth without any 
long runs, but a continuous bunch of snappy jerks 
followed by dives to the bottom, before we could 
gaff him. 

NOT A SPECTACULAR FIGHTER 

A wall-eyed pike doesn't make the showy fight of 
the bass. He doesn't show that race-horse speed 
stuff of cutting through the water, and he doesn't 
fight as long, but every one of his jerks and twists 
sends up your spine a thrill that makes you feel like 
a game cock after you land him. 

All through the season you can catch him, par- 
ticularly in June, July and October. Try him out 
on dull, cloudy days and in the evening, casting with 
a red Ibis bass fly, weighted, of course, so that it 



HIS HONOR, THE WALL-EYED PIKE 99 

will sink. He is a great night prowler and seems 
mighty hungry late in the day. On a moonlight 
night he answers to the call of an underwater 
luminous plug. 



THE FIRST PICKEREL 

I have brought to gaff a tuna, cast for grayling with 

a Cree, 
Caught some small mouths that were whoppers, 

hauled a sword-fish from the sea; 
Roughly speaking I have angled ev'ry fish that has 

a mouth, 
From the Arctics to the Tropics and a thousand 

miles due South; 
Yet I can't remember thrilling just the way that 

once I did 
When I yanked that three-pound pick'rel from the 

creek, when but a kid ! 

— Albert Jay Cook. 



JUST ORDINARY OL' PICKEREL 

If there is any one of the fish family that we re- 
member from the knee-pants and bent-pin stage of 
the fishing game, it sure must be Ol' Judge Pickerel 
and the young " picks." It certainly made your 
heart do a double-quick and started the cold creeps 
up your spine the first time you hooked a pickerel, 
after a kindergarten course on chubs and sunnies. 

ioo 



JUST ORDINARY OL' PICKEREL 101 

You probably had a long cane pole or a young sap- 
ling cut from the nearby wooded shore; anyway, 
from that time on you realized that there was " some 
sport " to the game. Since then, of course, the ol' 
pickerel has sorta been dropped into the discard, and 
it takes trout, bass or musky, perhaps, to start the 
joy trips up along your vertebrae. But let me tip 
you off straight: there's many a good fighter left in 
the pickerel outfit, regardless of the many slurs cast 
upon his fighting qualities by some of the ultra- 
exclusive highbrows in the angling derby. 

FIND PICKEREL MOST ANYWHERE 

The pickerel is one of the fish that you can fish 
for nearly anywhere, and you don't have to make 
a five hundred to one thousand mile trip to his 
home grounds. He is a common, ordinary cuss that 
can pick up a living on next to nothing, and at the 
same time raise a mighty big family. In nearby 
" civilized " waters he will even make a sure-enough 
professional fisherman sit up and take notice be- 
cause of his ability to evade the bait and make said 
fisherman use all his skill and wits to induce him to 
take the lure. The more he is fished for the wiser 
he gets, and to land a few fair-sized pickerel in much- 
fished waters takes keen work, more so, in fact, 
than for the gamer fish in the usual fish haunts of 
the North Woods. As a rule the pickerel found 
in local waters does not grow to excess size, — say 



102 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

an average of two or three pounds. Some are 
larger, of course, but not the general run. 

WHERE THE PICKEREL HANGS OUT 

The pickerel from the running streams, like all 
other fish, puts up the best fight, while those from 
the warmer waters of the lakes and sluggish streams 
are dull and slow fighters. The pickerel is found 
in nearly all rivers and lakes or ponds, his preference 
being for shallow, grassy lakes. His main hunting 
grounds are along the edge of lily and weed beds 
and on the outskirts of the grassy growth that is 
often called " pickerel grass." Here he lurks, wait- 
ing for the smaller fish to swim past, often striking 
his prey with a snap of the jaws that cuts the victim 
in two. He is a sure-enough barbarian, and is a 
destroyer of the weaker fishes, all of which points 
to the fact that he will be with us for many a day. 
He is vicious to the core, and at times will strike a 
trolling spoon with force enough to bend it double. 
In spring-fed lakes he is often found around the 
spring-holes, and deep fishing here will bring him 
out. You can feel reasonably sure of landing him 
any time from the first of the season to the wind- 
up, and then take a rap at him through the ice in 
winter. 

NEEDS DENTIST IN AUGUST 

August is about the poorest month for pickerel 
fishing, caused, no doubt, by the soreness of the 



JUST ORDINARY OL' PICKEREL 103 

gums, as claimed by many of the old-timers. The 
" musky," a cousin of the pickerel, loses his teeth 
in August, while the pickerel itself has a swelling 
of the gums during dogdays that does not put him 
in a humor to bite on anything. Late September 
and early October is about the best all-round pick- 
erel season, at which time he is found in the shal- 
lows and at the mouth of outlets or inlets, where the 
feed is good. 

TROLL AND CAST FOR HIM 

Although trolling is the surest method of landing 
the pickerel, much sport can be had by casting for 
him, using light bass tackle. A weedless hook with 
a small frog, shiner or minnow for bait, and a 
single spinner is all you need. Row along the weed- 
beds, about seventy-five feet out, and cast in toward 
the edge, landing your bait about five feet from the 
edge. Give the pickerel a little time before strik- 
ing, as he grabs the live bait and darts back to his 
lair, there to turn it around in his mouth and swallow 
it head first. Strike sharply and row away from 
the weeds. Bear this in mind: he may come up to 
the boat with ease, but he makes his big effort for 
liberty after you bring him up to the boat. 

The usual way to get him is by trolling with a 
spoon or spinner. Take a No. 4^ tandem 
Slim Eli Hildebrandt Spinner with a treble hook 
bucktailed or feathered, or a No. 4 Skinner spoon 



104 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

and you have an excellent trolling rig. A chunk of 
pork rind adds to the attractiveness of the lure. 

Whatever the standing of the pickerel in the sport 
of fishing, it can be said to his credit that he has 
gladdened the heart of many fishermen who could 
not take the time or lay out the wad of coin neces- 
sary to go after the gamer fish in their native haunts, 
and for this I say, give the devil his due, although a 
good-sized pickerel on very light tackle is not to be 
sneezed at, nor is getting him in much-fished waters 
a child's trick. 



A LITTLE PAN-FISH FUN 

There's a great big army of little fish that don't 
seem to get the proper credit for all the fun and 
pleasure they have given fishermen. Of course, Old 
Man, a great big chunk of this fun happened way 
back in the knee-pants' stage of most fellows' fishing 
days, but at that, when the real game fellows are 
off the feed and prospects appear good for an empty 
stringer, and it looks like bacon and flapjacks for 
the evening meal, just toss out a line and give the 
little fellows a nibble at your bait. These little old 
nibblers include in their ranks the crappie, rock bass, 
blue gill, sunfish and yellow or striped perch. 

As a pan fish you can't beat 'em. Browned to 
a turn in plenty of bacon grease or broiled over the 
open campfire they make a dish that would cause 
even J. D. to forget his stomach, and after an hour 
on the trail or a particularly hard portage, you thank 
your lucky stars when the feed bag has a generous 
portion of " little fellers " done to a turn. 

GET 'EM ANY OLD TIME 

Of course, they don't put up a scream of a fight 
like their cousins the basses, but they are accom- 

105 



106 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

modating little cusses and bite any time in the day 
and most any time in the season, and especially when 
the real game fellows have a tendency to overlook 
a good thing in the shape of bait or lure. Although 
they only make a short little fight, there's a way of 
fishing for them that "!vill give you quite a bit of 
fun and please even the sure-enough fisherman who 
is seemingly shocked when you even mention pan fish 
to him. Of course, most of that disdain stuff is 
merely bull on the part of the fellow that hops up 
in the clouds when you mention little pannies. I've 
known lots of 'em to sneak out alone and have a 
piece of sport with the " little fellers " when they 
thought no one was watching and there was no 
chance of injuring their rep as highbrow anglers. 

LIGHT FLY ROD BEST 

Here is the tackle that puts pep in the pan-fish 
game : Get the lightest, whippiest steel fly rod you 
can find, about ten feet in length, use an ordinary 
soft-braided silk casting line and a number eight or 
ten hook, and do a little still fishing. With this 
rigging you will be pleasantly surprised at the sport 
in landing a fair-sized panner. They start out with 
quite a showy fight, but it doesn't last long. How- 
ever, with this tackle, Old Scout, they'll play better 
and show more spunk than with the ordinary cast- 
ing rod, and take it as a side tip you won't land 
every one you hook. 



A LITTLE PAN-FISH FUN 107 

The crappie is found in most ponds, lagoons, and 
lakes, as well as the more sluggish streams, and they 
like the quiet waters. They bite best in the early 
spring, in June and the fall, although you get them 
most any time. For a still-fishing bait they like 
grasshoppers, worms or live minnows, and you can 
catch them trolling with minnow or very small spoon- 
hook, while at times they will rise to the trout fly. 

The rock bass prefers the clear, cool water, and 
is not only found in nearly every lake, pond and 
river, but also in the little creeks and streams. In 
the lakes you will find him where the reeds and 
underwater grasses grow and in the streams he 
dotes on the deep holes among the rocks and bowl- 
ders or around stumps, brush or windfalls. Most 
any kind of bait suits him, but small minnows, angle- 
worms and white wood-grubs make him swim 
around and take notice. They put up quite a stagger 
at fighting when first hooked, and make a final effort 
when brought up to the boat. A small red ibis or 
white miller fly often tempt them, and very small 
frogs or crawfish interest the larger ones. 

BLUEGILL IS SCRAPPY 

The bluegill is probably the most numerous of 
the panners and can be found in nearly all the lakes 
and quieter streams, particularly in the smaller 
lakes. He grows to a fair size and undoubtedly 
he is the gamest of the pan fish. He fights from the 



108 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

time he is hooked until landed and is sure a persistent 
little cuss. He does not rush the hook like the rock 
bass, but quietly sucks the hook in, and when he finds 
he has hooked himself the fun begins. You usually 
will find him in schools off the edges of bars among 
the patches of weeds and grasses, and he sticks in a 
bunch until you land the whole outfit. Try for him 
in water from five to ten feet in depth and keep 
your line as far away from the boat as possible. 
Any time of the year he will go for the bait, but 
from July to September he seems exceptionally in 
need of open-air treatment. Any of the baits used 
for other panners satisfies the bluegill, while he won't 
turn up his nose at pieces of fish or mussel. Troll- 
ing and the fly interest him. 

STRIPED PERCH GOOD BITER 

The yellow or striped perch is probably the best 
little biter in the whole outfit, and although he does 
not as a rule fight like a heavyweight, if you get a 
two-pounder on light fly tackle you know there is a 
fish on the far end of the line. Go after him in 
about thirty to forty feet of water and you get the 
big ones. With any sort of bait you can land him 
in good numbers most any time, and even through 
the ice in winter he is an accommodating fellow. 
The perch is a great little favorite with the women 
and children who don't go after the gamer fellows, 
and many pleasant days can be spent for this popular 



A LITTLE PAN-FISH FUN 109 

little panner. A bait that looks good to a bluegill 
tickles the fancy of the perch, and any old kind of 
a hook and line is tackle enough to get him, although 
the real sport is to be had with the long, light steel 
fly rod. 

Taken as a whole, the pan fish are a gentlemanly 
little bunch of good fellows, always eager to take a 
nibble and save a fisherman from ringing up a 
" goose egg " for the day's fishing, and to his good, 
clean method of living we can thank him for his fine 
flavor, and crown him king of fresh water fish food. 



LIVE BAIT — THE MINNOW 

For an all-round live bait that has the reputation 
of bringing home the bacon most any time during 
the open season, give us the minnow family, which, 
by the way, is a large tribe. Some fishermen call 
any small fish a minnow, which is wrong, as the 
minnow family is a distinct line made up of over one 
hundred different species and most small streams and 
lakes have from ten to thirty species in their waters. 
You will find the minnow in all sorts of places, the 
spot-tailed shiner mainly in the lakes, fallfish in the 
large streams, and chub in the smaller streams. The 
minnows taken from the rapid flowing waters and 
riffles make the sturdiest bait, and at the same time 
the liveliest, as their constant fight with the swift 
current gives them more " pep " than the minnow 
from the gravel-bars or the deeper, quieter pools. 

As a general thing the species of minnows are 
more numerous in the warmer streams and lakes. 
The minnow from the river or creek makes the best 
bait, especially for bass or wall-eyed pike, and those 
taken from the swifter, cooler water, besides being 
more vigorous than their brothers from the lakes 
and ponds, have a more silvery shine, which makes 

no 



Four A. M. and the sun peeping up over the horizon with a slight 
ruffle to the water, a nice growth of rushes off the point of land which 
runs for sixty feet as a sand bar out into deep water and the bass rais- 
ing the deuce among the shiners, perch and minnows. You cannot beat 
it for bass. Every morning for a week five to eight bass were coaxed 
into the "spider" off this point. 



In lake fishing for bass the small bays and coves can be counted on 
for good fishing. As a general thing the underwater weeds and lily 
pads thrive in the bays, the natural retreat of the large-mouth. From 
this little b,ay nineteen bass, ranging from two and a half to five pounds 
were caught in a little over an hours casting. 



LIVE BAIT — THE MINNOW in 

a decidedly more attractive lure to the game fish on 
the lookout for a fancy piece of food. 

TRY OUT DIFFERENT MINNOWS 

In most all fishing waters some particular minnow 
has the reputation of being the one best bet and it 
is well to follow the dope of the local fishermen or 
guides, although at the same time the trying out of 
another species may mean better fishing all the way 
round. You never can tell until you have tried out 
the different minnows which kind makes the most 
attractive bait for any locality. 

For muskellunge, pike or pickerel the larger sized 
minnows, say about eight to ten inches, are the best 
bait and it's a toss-up between the fallfish, creek or 
river chub, silver shiner, or black sucker. All of 
these baits are fine lures for casting or trolling. 

For black bass the silver shiner or dace seems to 
be the minnow that tickles his fancy and its silvery 
sides make a great shining invitation under water. 
It is a good bait for any time, or any condition of 
water, and is particularly fine on dark and cloudy 
days or in rough water. River or creek chubs are 
hardy minnows with a tough mouth that holds well 
on the hook, and the fact that they are more lively 
than the shiner makes them attractive bait to most 
fishermen. On bright days, with clear and still 
water, the chub is second to none as a fish getter. 
The mud minnow, with its yellowish gold tint and 



ii2 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

husky constitution, is a prime favorite. Besides be- 
ing an attractive lure for bass, he seems to have as 
many lives as the proverbial cat, and he is sure on 
the job every minute he is in the water. The small 
sucker, redfin or silver-side, darter, slender silver- 
side, and the blunt-nose minnow will be found good 
for bait. 

CATFISH AND PERCH AS BAIT 

The small catfish, called by some the stonecat, 
mad-tom, bullhead or pout, is a bait that will sur- 
prise the bass fisherman who has never used it. 
Early and late in the season young yellow perch can 
be used to advantage in lake fishing, but to get the 
best results from the perch bait the dorsal fin should 
be clipped off. This operation does not impair the 
vitality of the young perch, if done quickly with a 
pair of scissors or a sharp knife. 

For bass or wall-eyed pike a minnow four to five 
inches long is about the right size. This size min- 
now is livelier and will last much longer on the hook 
than the smaller ones. Even a small bass, a half 
pounder for instance, will make a drive for this size 
bait, while it is sure the happy medium for the old 
granddaddy who has a man's-sized feed bag to fill. 
As a general thing the big bass like a good mouthful 
and there is not much chance of using a minnow 
they cannot handle. Bass seem to have a fancy for 
minnows from other waters than their own. 



LIVE BAIT — THE MINNOW 113 

HOW TO HOOK THE MINNOW 

In baiting the hook with the minnow, pass the 
hook through the lower lip and out the nostril, or 
if the minnow is of a large size, run the hook 
through both lips. For still fishing, where the 
water is quiet, hook the minnow, if small, through 
the back, above the backbone and just behind the 
dorsal fin. Chubs and suckers can be hooked 
through both lips which are very strong on these 
species. 

With proper care minnows can be kept in good 
shape for an indefinite period. In camp a perma- 
nent minnow box should be sunk in the water along 
the shore of the stream or lake, and the bottom of 
the box filled with gravel and stones. Wire screen 
over both ends gives a steady change of water. Al- 
ways dip the minnows into the minnow bucket with 
a small dip net and don't handle them; leave that 
until you place them on the hook. It is best to use 
a large size minnow bucket and if there is to be 
much of a carry, put a bunch of water weeds in the 
pail. This saves them from injury caused by rough 
travel. In carrying minnows any distance don't 
crowd 'em; fifty to a five-gallon pail is plenty. A 
pinch of salt added to the water once or twice dur- 
ing the day's fishing gives 'em life. Change the 
water often and don't wait until the minnows come 
to the top, as that's about the time they are ready 



ii 4 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

to turn belly up. A mighty good plan is to tote 
along a small bicycle pump and aerate the water 
every now and then by pumping air into it. A good 
plan to follow in changing the water in the minnow 
pail is to pour it in from a height of say two or three 
feet, as this carries air into the water, and the min- 
now sure needs air as much as a human being. 



ODE TO A WORM 

The sombre years roll on to ultimate negations 
And swirl back to the fates from whence they 
came; 
But thou — through all the changing generations — 

Thou wriggling angleworm, remain the same. 
Delicious grub, upon which hungry fish have bat- 
tened 
Since cave-men first the bone-barbed spear for- 
sook, 
I sing this song for one whose yawning creel has 
fattened, 
Because thou hung suspended from his hook. 

— Albert Jay Cook. 

WORMS AS BAIT 

The original bait that has tickled the palate of 
all kinds of fish since the first open season in the 
Garden of Eden and caused more of them to grace 
the frying pan than any other lure, of the thousands 
in use, is the common old worm. Called by some 
the angleworm, by others the fishworm, and knighted 
as the greatest bait ever by the happy, bare-legged, 
knee-pants angler of the Order of the Long Cane 
Pole. 

i is 



n6 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

This little old worm bait has never received as 
much credit as it should, probably because its value 
as a bait has been in a way overlooked in the mad 
rush for the multicolored and wonderfully shaped 
artificials that have made bait-casting the most 
popular end of the sport. Then, again, the fact 
that the fly-fisherman generally tilts his nose sky- 
ward when the worm is as much as mentioned, has 
sort of given it a black eye with the beginner, who, 
above all things, hates to have the experienced 
angler think for a minute that he is a tyro at the 
game. And at that, Old Scout, it is no kid's trick 
to land the wily trout when the waters are low and 
clear during July, even with the assistance of the 
lowly worm. 

A STILL-FISHING WINNER 

As a still-fishing bait for all kinds of fish the worm 
stands at the head of the class, and he can wiggle 
into the affections of the finny tribe when many other 
baits don't even get a glance. Whether it is the 
fascinating wiggle of the head and tail of the worm, 
which should be hooked through the body a couple 
of times with the ends free, or the delicious flavor 
of this choice bit of fish food that makes it so popu- 
lar, is a question that can only be settled by the fish, 
but it is a sure enough fact that they take to worms 
like a duck to water. The worm makes 'em cross- 
eyed to get at it before, another fish sees it. 



WORMS AS BAIT 117 

FOUR OF A KIND 

One big point in favor of the worm is that it can 
be found in good numbers almost anywhere. A few 
turns of earth with a spade will give you enough bait 
for an afternoon's fishing. There are four species 
of worms which are probably the most useful in fish- 
ing. The black-headed worm without the band or 
knotlike ring which is rather dark in color and the 
toughest and best hooker of the lot, and is found in 
garden soil. The ringed worm with a ring around 
the body a little above the middle is a flatter looking 
worm, which is found under old manure heaps and 
such places. This worm is softer and does not make 
as good bait as the black-headed worm. The 
marsh worm, which has a whitish ring, and is a pale 
blue in color and is found under stones and among 
decayed leaves and under rotted logs. The red- 
headed worm which is found in rich earth near ma- 
nure heaps and is quite thick in proportion to its 
length. It is dark red, and owing to the fact that 
it loses its color after being in the water a short time, 
is not as good for bait as the others. 

CLEAN AND FEED 'EM 

When worms are first taken from the ground they 
are full of earth, and until they are cleaned do not 
make the best bait. A fish likes the pink color of 
the cleaned worm, and it is a simple matter to doctor 
them into first-class fish food. As soon as they are 



n8 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

dug up out of their home grounds they should be 
washed well with water. Put them in a panful of 
water and stir them around with the finger, but don't 
crush them or shake roughly, then place them in an 
earthen crock or jar and put in plenty of moss. 
And here is the big point to remember in the " care 
of the worm : " wring the moss thoroughly so that 
all water is eliminated. The moss must be kept 
dry in order to extract the moisture from the body 
of the worms and thus toughen them for the hook. 
The ringed worm can be cleaned in two or three 
days while the other three take at least a week to 
put them in clean pink shape. Every other day the 
worms should be examined and the sick looking 
brothers taken out, and the moss changed. Slip 
them a little food at the same time; a slice of bread 
broken into small pieces and a spoonful of milk or 
cream poured on the moss is plenty, and will keep 
'em while getting ready for the hook. Sounds like 
a joke to wash and feed your pet worms, but if you 
never offered a clean worm to the fish, just give it 
a try-out, and take it from me, Old Timer, you are 
certainly due for a surprise at the results. While 
the conditioning game is going on, keep the worm 
crock in a cool place. 

SMALL ONES GREAT BAIT 

When digging worms don't overlook the small 
ones. It is a mistaken idea that only the big worms 



WORMS AS BAIT 119 

get the big fish, for often the largest worm will fall 
a victim to the smallest fish. A small, clean, pink 
worm with a lively kick is more enticing to the big 
fellows than the big night crawler that you hunt 
with a lantern. When hooking the worm do not 
run the hook clear through the body, but simply 
hook it through the skin. About one-third way 
down the body run the hook through the skin, then 
skip about a third of the body and run the hook 
through again, leaving about a quarter of the entire 
length of the worm wriggling loose at the barb of 
the hook. This keeps them lively and kicking and 
attracts the big fellows, and while a dead worm may_ 
get the smaller fish it doesn't appeal much to the 
kind you are generally after. When hooking a new 
worm always take off the small pieces of his pre- 
decessor. 

When you have tried out everything else and the 
fish seem to be off the feed, slip a nice worm on the 
hook, and if that don't make them hungry you can 
feel certain that you have done your part in your 
effort to coax the big fins out of the water. 



PORK RIND FOR BAIT 

After you have packed your varied bunch of plugs, 
wobblers, spoons and lures in your tackle box, with 
the surplus jammed into your grip, don't forget the 
humble pork rind, because it's sure got some " rep " 
behind it to back it up as a fish getter. When you 
have tried to tease the fish on to your hook with 
every bait you can think of and failed to arouse their 
curiosity, just put a nice juicy strip or chunk of fat 
pork on the hook, and if that don't make their 
mouths water then they surely must be either sea- 
sick or on a diet. 

Many big fish have been caught with the fat side 
of the pig, and your kit is not complete without a 
fair-sized piece of pork. Buy it in a chunk with 
the rind on and cut it up each day as you a la carte 
it to the fish. Keeping it in a chunk saves it from 
drying out. The best kind of pork to buy is that 
commonly called salt pork, or, as the sailors name 
it, " salt hoss," but get the fresh pork whenever pos- 
sible as it is stronger and makes a livelier bait. This 
pork is white, and makes an attractive lure for bass, 
pickerel and wall-eyed pike, and even the musky 
will give it the once over if it's a fair-sized chunk. 

120 



PORK RIND FOR BAIT 121 

HOW TO CUT PORK RIND BAIT 

There are many different ways to prepare the 
pork rind as to size and style of cutting. Take a 
strip three to three and one-half inches long, three- 
fourths of an inch wide and an eighth of an inch 
thick. Taper it from the full width down to a 
point in a V-shape. This makes a very good pork 
rind bait to use either in casting or trolling. Leave 
the rind on the top of the pork strip for a distance 
of about two inches from the thick end of the taper, 
cutting it off of the balance of the strip, as this gives 
it strength and does not interfere with its wiggling 
in the water. To add to its attractiveness as a bass 
lure, tie a piece of red yarn through the head and 
knot it into a couple of small bows at each side. A 
bright piece of red cloth tied around the head is also 
good. 

IMITATE FROGS AND MINNOWS 

Take two of these strips and tie them together 
at the head and let the ends loose and you have a 
good imitation of a frog; it has a mighty fine motion 
in the water, at that. A pork rind strip with a No. 
3 spoon makes a fine casting bait and is most effective 
when used on a tandem hook which is made es- 
pecially for pork rind baits, or on a Foss pork rind 
minnow. 

You can vary your pork rind baits to imitate a 



122 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

minnow or frog. To make the latter bait, it is only 
necessary to cut a wider piece of pork and split the 
tail into two legs. The fact that the pork is fresh 
and limber makes it take a very lifelike motion 
through the water, and at the same time when a fish 
strikes a pork rind bait it does not immediately 
throw it out of its mouth, as is the case with wooden 
baits. The pork has more of the soft feel of the 
live bait to the fish, and it's a twenty-to-one shot that 
he'll try to swallow it. 

PORK CHUNK GOOD BAIT 

Chunks of pork cut wedge shape are very success- 
ful bait, especially for casting. Take a piece about 
one and a half inches across the top, two inches long 
and one inch thick. Taper this down to half an inch 
at the end and cut off the rind except at the thickest 
end. Decorate this chunk with red yarn around the 
head and you have an A-i casting bait. 

If you don't want to bother with making your own 
pork rind baits, you can get the strips in bottles or 
the chunks in boxes at your tackle store, but a lot 
of the fun of fishing comes from doping up for your- 
self the bait that later lands the big ones. 

In hooking the pork rind, hook it close up to the 
end so that the balance of the bait is loose and free 
to move with the water as it is reeled in. Hook it 
through the pork with the rind on top, so that the 
bait stands up in the water. 



PORK RIND FOR BAIT 123 

HUNT WHERE THEY FEED 

Of course with pork rind bait, as with any other 
lure, you must know something about the feeding 
places of the fish and where to find them. In the 
early morning or late evening, when the bass are 
close in shore or looking for a meal in a patch of 
weeds or around an under-water brush heap or wind- 
fall, you can drop a pork rind bait in the right spot 
and be almost certain of a strike. With a weedless 
hook you can shoot the bait into an open pocket in 
the weeds where other lures cannot well be used. 

For pickerel or pike use a small dipsey sinker to 
take the bait down deeper to where these fish hang 
out. Pork rind can be used by itself as a bait but 
a spoon or spinner adds to the attraction and you 
might as well get the benefit of this old reliable end 
of the tackle outfit. 

A well-known " been there " fisherman of Pardee- 
ville, Wisconsin, H. P. Thompson by name, who is a 
great little advocate of the fat and juicy pork as a 
winner among the baits, puts it this way; " If you 
want to catch fish, and make the other fellow wonder 
how you do it, use pork, just plain pork, without the 
beans." Not half bad, old man, only I say, use the 
pork for bait, and use the beans to stuff the feed bag. 



TROLLING 

After a few hours casting, when your rod begins 
to feel like a piece of lead, just slip into an easy 
position and take a little whirl at trolling. Besides 
resting up your casting arm and putting it in shape 
for a double-header in the afternoon, you stand a 
mighty good chance of landing some fine fish with 
the least amount of exertion up to the actual period 
of fighting the fish. Trolling is sure the lazy fisher- 
man's delight and often the fat man's preference. 

Nearly all game fish can be caught by trolling, 
and after the strike it takes just a little bit finer work 
on the part of the fisherman to land his catch, due 
to the larger amount of line out at the time. There 
are quite a number of rigs that are good for troll- 
ing, and you can use most any kind of bait or lure. 
The best day for this kind of fishing is when the 
water is slightly ruffled by a breeze and the surface 
broken by small waves. This keeps the intended 
victim from seeing too much for his own good. An 
overcast or cloudy day also adds to the attractiveness 
of trolling weather, although many great catches 
have been made when the sun was doing his hot- 
test. 

124 



TROLLING 125 

BRAIDED LINES BEST 

The best line for trolling is the braided silk or 
linen, as the twisted lines cannot be used successfully 
on account of the kinking caused by the twisting and 
turning of the line, which cannot altogether be 
avoided. In assembling your rig for trolling don't 
be afraid to use swivels; they help keep the line from 
twisting. In rigging up the spoon hook for trolling, 
which is the one most commonly used, loop the line 
on a swiveled wire leader — a six or eight inch one 
is plenty long enough — and at the end of the leader 
snap on the spoon, which for ordinary fishing for 
wall-eyed pike or bass should not be larger than a 
No. 3, while for pike, pickerel or musky a No. 4 to 
No. 6 is plenty large enough. One of the big mis- 
takes in using the trolling spoon is to select a No. 12 
in the single spoon or a No. 10 in the tandem style, 
with a bunch of feathered hooks on the end large 
enough to scare any fish on first sight. Some of 
the finest musky and pike have been caught on a 
little old No. 3 spoon with a shiner or pork rind 
fluttering on the hook. Take a No. 6 single spoon 
or a No. 4 tandem with a nice-sized black sucker, 
chub or shiner hooked behind, and you have an ideal 
pike or musky trolling rig. Top this off with a 
small piece of red flannel right in front of the bait, 
and they sure can't resist it. The small spoon is the 
winner with the big fish. 



126 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 
TROLL DEEP FOR BASS 

When the bass have left the shore waters for the 
cooler deep water and you have failed to coax them 
up with the cast, just locate a bar, twenty or thirty 
feet under water, and take a shot at trolling for 
them with a Keeling Expert under-water minnow. 
Take the small size, about a two-inch minnow, let 
out about 75 feet of line, and troll deep. For clear 
water use the bronze or copper color, and for dull 
days try the aluminum. For an artificial, this little 
old bait is sure a winner. A mud minnow, frog or 
pork rind strip, with a little red yarn and a No. 3 
spoon, makes a trolling outfit that looks good to 
the bass. 

There is one little angle to the trolling game that 
some of the sure-enough fishermen have overlooked, 
and that is to troll with flies for bass. Take a nine- 
foot gut leader, loop on three flies, slip three split- 
shot sinkers, about No. 1, on the leader three feet 
apart to keep the flies one or two feet below the 
surface, and troll along very slowly and quietly. 
Let out 25 yards of line and strike right after the 
bass strikes. A good combination of flies for troll- 
ing is the Coachman, Silver Doctor and the red or 
brown Hackle. Trolling with flies for bass might 
be called the highest art of that end of the fishing 
game, as it requires more skill and attention than the 
ordinary run of trolling. 



TROLLING 127 

CUT OUT THE SPEED 

In trolling for musky, pike or pickerel 75 to 100 
feet of line is plenty to run out behind the boat. At 
this distance the lure is far enough away from the 
boat and the line is easier handled in landing the 
fish. The boat should make about two to three 
miles an hour, which is speed enough to keep the 
spoon turning and at the same time give the fish a 
chance to see your bait. Always troll with your rod 
straight out behind the boat, never out the side at a 
right angle ; this is treatment any fishing rod would 
resent. A mighty good thing for the rod is to use 
a steel rod shortener, which gives you a dandy troll- 
ing rod at a cost of about 20 cents. Just slip out 
the first joint, put the shortener in the grip, the sec- 
ond joint in the shortener, and you run no chances 
with your bait-casting rod. One big point to re- 
member in trolling with a spoon is the fact that a 
spoon must be spinning around in order to flash 
under water and attract the fish. If you will keep 
your eye on the rod tip occasionally you can easily 
tell whether the spoon is turning around by the 
steady bobbing of the tip. When it quits bobbing 
you'd better reel in and clean off the weeds. A 
hookful of weeds is not much inducement for a fish 
to strike. 

For wall-eyed pike put a dipsey sinker on your rig 
and troll deep, and if you get a strike, troll back 



128 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

and forth over the same water, as they feed in 
schools. A fine artificial bait for the wall-eye is the 
Heddon's underwater Dowagiac with the green 
mottled back and white belly. This is a killer, while 
the South Bend Bass-oreno, white with red head, 
should be called the Pike-oreno because it sure makes 
them dull their teeth. 



FALL FISHING 

If there is any time in the whole fishing season 
that is more delightful than the fall or autumn, lead 
me to it. After the first frost has nipped the leaves 
and they have changed to countless tints and shades 
of gold, yellow and red, with the deep green of the 
pines making them stand out in flashing splendor, 
then, and not until then, will you realize that it is not 
all of fishing merely to fish. 

The hot old days of July and August have been 
passed into the discard and with them all the thou- 
sands of insect pests that feed on the unsuspecting 
angler as he works overtime trying to coax the un- 
interested fish with all manner of baits and lures. 
No more do you have to wake up two hours before 
the roosters and just ahead of the sun in order to 
get to the fishing waters when the fish are in the 
shallows for a feed, nor do you have to wait until 
dusk, or darker, to go after them with some chance 
of finding them in the humor to bite. 

COOL WATERS GIVE ; EM PEP 

During the hot summer days the fish are dull and 
sluggish, devoting most of the daylight hours to a 

129 



130 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

siesta in the cool depths, and although you lower 
your bait to them, they give it the once over with 
little or no interest. Even the eager little pannies 
seem to be off the feed at this time. 

Among the big fellows — the pike, pickerel and 
musky — Dame Nature has been playing hob with 
the teeth and gums and by the opening of the fall 
fishing these old warriors' molars have been shaped 
up so that they are in fine fettle to try them out on 
most any bait that flashes past. 

Right here I want to justify a statement I made 
some time ago regarding musky losing their teeth 
during August, and being supplied with an entirely 
new set for the winter feeding. This statement has 
caused considerable comment among writers of fish- 
ing lore. I made it a particular point to examine 
quite a number of musky this season and found that 
as late as September ioth some of them still had 
the old teeth hanging loose in the mouth, while in 
front of the old teeth were the new dagger teeth 
firmly set in the jaws and ready for business. This 
was a little later than usual for the old teeth to re- 
main and was no doubt caused by late seasonal con- 
ditions. At this same time the gums of the pickerel 
were still swollen and in poor shape to encourage an 
attack on a lure. 

As an explanation why these fish that are affected 
with teeth troubles do not take the bait at this 
teething period, although they must surely eat, many 



FALL FISHING 131 

hold that they feed on the almost invisible animal 
life in the water and the vegetation which is in bloom 
at this time. The old-timers on the lakes will tell 
you that the lake is working, the waters containing 
millions of small specks, whitish in color, and these 
no doubt make up part of the menu of the old heavy- 
weights. 

TIME TO LA.ND BIG ONES 

In September the fish come back strong and with 
the cooler days of October, and even up into the 
snows of November, you don't have to be so finicky 
about selecting your artificial plugs. The bass are 
again in the shallows ready to wallop your lure with 
the same driving sweep they give it in the beginning 
of the season. And your chances of landing a big 
one are greater than at any other time. Why this 
is so, is hard to dope out, but the big fellows are 
sure kittenish and probably take a wallop at the 
gloriously enameled wooden plug out of pure devil- 
ishness, or to relieve themselves of an overabundance 
of " pep." 

The fish at this time of the year are right on edge, 
alert and keenly alive to everything, and nature helps 
them to the extent of keeping their home waters 
clearer than at any other period. They can see for 
longer distances and the still clear atmosphere of 
October is in their favor. Caution and skill in fish- 
ing quietly are far more necessary in autumn than 
earlier in the season. 



132 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

THE BAITS TO USE 

For an artificial for fall bass fishing let it be a 
white body with a dash of red, and of the wobbler 
type. At the same time a green backed white bel- 
lied underwater minnow also makes an attractive 
lure and is particularly good for wall-eyed pike. 
The wall-eye is mighty hungry in the fall, and right 
up into November, and he makes a conscientious 
biter as the cooler weather sets in. He is still a bot- 
tom feeder and you must send the bait down to him. 
Don't be afraid to shoot your cast in among the 
weeds and lily pads for the bass. That's where you 
will find them in the fall, way in close to shore, feed- 
ing, especially in the evening, and flirting with the 
edges of the weed patches will not bring half as 
good results as casting right into the weeds. 

The live frogs and minnow are fine fall baits and 
if you hook your frog on a weedless hook, toss it 
as lightly as possible into the weeds and let it settle 
a bit, then reel in slowly, stopping for a second now 
and then, you are offering a mighty inviting lunch 
to a hungry bass. 

For the musky, pike and pickerel the old reliable 
spoonhook, about a No. 4 to 6, is an ideal trolling 
bait and the way they hit the spoon with a savage 
lunge is enough to shatter the nerves of a fair- 
weather fisherman. And pickerel — well, the fall 
caught " pick " will be a surprise to the fellow who 
hates 'em in the summer. 



MUSKY, PIKE OR PICKEREL? 

If there is any one point in the fishing game that 
causes more discussion than the true identification of 
the muskellunge, pike and pickerel, I have failed to 
notice it. All three of these savages of the waters 
belong to the pike family, from the big, husky musky 
down to the more slender and smaller pickerel, and 
they have a reputation for greediness and voracity 
that entitles them to be called the " wolf " of the 
waters. They devour every living creature that 
comes in sight and prey upon the other fishes, as well 
as taking an occasional feed from their own kind. 

A FAMILY OF ROUGHNECKS 

The family resemblance between the musky, pike 
and pickerel is close in contour and general appear- 
ance, but in markings and color, as well as weight 
and size, there is quite a difference. The body is 
similar in shape, with the exception that the musky 
is built more bulky and chunky than either the pike 
or pickerel, the latter being the slimmest and more 
slender of the three. They have the same number 
and kind of fins and they are placed in the same 
position on each. The same large head, with its 
flattened appearance and the protruding underjaw 
armed with an array of sharp daggerlike teeth, 

133 



134 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

makes either one of these three ruffians look like a 
bad actor when you bring him up to the boat. On 
both the pike and pickerel the head is slightly more 
flattened and the lower jaw seems to project farther 
forward than on the musky. The body or basic 
color of the back and sides is a green and greenish- 
yellow, which varies considerably in the different fish. 
Local conditions and waters are the cause of this 
variation in color. In some waters the fish will be 
found with both back and sides of a dark green, in 
others a medium tint, while again they will be caught 
with a very light green on the back, shading into 
greenish yellow on the sides. The belly varies from 
white to a cream color. In some lakes the basic 
color has a brown-green tint. From this point the 
similarity in color of the three fish ceases. On the 
musky are found markings of black or brown, either 
in the shape of round spots or irregular vertical 
daubs. In some waters the musky is colored a dark 
gray, blending into a grayish silver. In the Eagle 
River waters and several of the smaller lakes in 
northern Wisconsin and Minnesota an unspotted 
musky is found. This musky is often called the 
Great Northern pike. Its tail is more slender and 
the fins are slightly higher than on the other. 

PICKEREL REALLY SMALL FELLOW 

The true pickerel seldom exceeds five or six 
pounds in weight, although pike weighing 10 to 30 



MUSKY, PIKE OR PICKEREL? 135 

or 40 pounds are called pickerel by many fishermen. 
The body color of the pike varies greatly, but as a 
general thing it has a greenish-yellow back and sides, 
with yellow spots dotted over the entire body. The 
spots are round and look as if they might have been 
daubbed on with a round brush full of yellow paint. 
The dots and body color vary from light to dark 
tints in different fish. 

The true pickerel also has dots of yellow and 
sometimes of a silver gray, and they are oblong or 
oval in shape and run lengthwise with the body, 
never vertically. These, markings are so numerous 
that they seem to be the body color separated by a 
dark tracing around the irregular placed spots. 
They run in no special design or regularity and do 
not look as much like spots as those markings of 
the pike and musky, nor do they stand out as dis- 
tinctly. 

The musky is a scrapper from the strike to the 
gaff, and he uses a tail full of tricks to break away. 
He will flop up out of the water, giving his head a 
shake like an angry bull pup ; he will make a dash 
straight at the boat to go under it, and a favorite 
trick is to flop up out of the water and corkscrew 
back on the line, winding it around his snoot in an 
effort to break it. None of these wise old actions 
can be blamed on the pike or pickerel. They 
haven't got it in 'em. They don't seem to have the 
pep or wits of the musky, and they never break 



136 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

water. A pike of 15 to 20 pounds will take con- 
siderable strength of arm and tackle to hold him, 
and the fight will consist of long straight lunges, at 
times near the surface or down towards the bottom. 

In feeding habits the musky, pike and pickerel are 
alike. They are solitary in habit and lie concealed 
among the weeds, rushes and lily-pads, at the edge 
of a channel where other fish are liable to swim 
past or alongside of submerged rocks from which 
they dash out for their prey, returning to the lair 
to gorge the food and watch for another passer 
by. 

SURE WAY TO JUDGE 

There is one way you can always identify these 
three fish and be absolutely sure you are right. On 
the musky the cheek and gill covers have scales 
only on a very narrow strip on the top, while the 
pike has scales on the entire cheek and the upper 
half of the gill covers, and on the true pickerel both 
the cheek and gill covers are entirely covered with 
scales. This method of distinguishing between the 
three fish is absolutely reliable and accurate, and as 
both the cheek and gill covers are large even on the 
smaller fish you will have no difficulty in noting these 
characteristics. 

In many localities the pike is called pickerel, while 
the true pickerel is called grass pike, so if you ever 



MUSKY, PIKE OR PICKEREL? 137 

land a 20-pounder that the natives call snake 
pickerel, and won't even take in the boat, you are 
perfectly right if you write home to your friends 
and tell them you landed a 20-pound pike. 



WHO CAUGHT THOSE FISH? 

As an angler I'll admit you can't be beat, 

You have panned old Izaak Walton from his seat; 

I'll not deny it. 
There is naught you haven't done with fish it seems, 
You have bunkoed mighty things in lake and streams ; 

I'll not decry it. 
You have told me tales of monsters that you've 

caught, 
Of the bass and pike and musky that you've fought; 

And how you fought them! 
But I'll wager, when the pearly gates you've tried, 
You will tremble if St. Peter asks the guide: 

" Who really caught them? " 

— Albert Jay Cook. 



TIPS FROM THE GUIDES 

Well, Old Man, you're ready to pack the duffle bag 
and hit the steel for the Great North Woods and 
you want a little straight-from-the-shoulder stuff on 
the question of guides. Taken as a whole, the men 
of the North Woods are a fine bunch of good fel- 
lows and they sure put up with a lot of hardships in 

138 



Earny Wendt, guide extraordinary, of the North Woods country, 
and a 31^ -pound muskellunge landed by Earny, on September 29, from 
the cool waters of Little Muskellunge Lake, head waters of the Black 
Lake String, McNaughton, Wisconsin. The line with which this musky 
was brought to gaff tested out at l 1 /^ pounds on the break. To land a 
game fish of this size on a line of that test shows remarkable angling 
skill, equal, if not finer, than the skill of the cotton-thread fisherman, 
of salt water fame. 



TIPS FROM THE GUIDES 139 

the first line of trenches dodging anglers' gas shells 
on the subject of fishing. Most guides who handle 
the city chap on his first big time in the woods have 
more real fishing lore and knowledge tied up in their 
hat racks than they are given credit for. And a 
heap of this downright good fishing dope never 
reaches the surface because sometimes, Mr. C. C. 
don't mix in right; he sort of rubs the fur the wrong 
way. Get on a man to man basis right at the start 
and have your listening ear in good shape. Your 
fishing will be more successful and you'll have an all- 
round better time. Your guide probably has spent 
the greater part of his life on the waters you will 
fish and he sure ought to be given credit for know- 
ing something about fishing conditions on those 
waters. If you give him the glad hand, Old Timer, 
and treat him white, toting your share and " mixing 
in " right he'll open up and give you a line of fishing 
that will be remembered for many a day. And just 
let a few of his tackle tips and fish facts soak in; 
they are nearly always good and you can use 'em any 
time. 

TIPS FROM A REAL GUIDE 

While on a recent trip with Earny Wendt, the 
greatest little guide that ever brought a musky to 
gaff, I passed the buck to him in this fashion: 
" Earny," I said, " what is the worst boner pulled 
by the city fisherman in the high art of tossing the 
bait to the eager fishes? " 



140 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

Between turning the fish that was browning in the 
pan and moving the coffee pot to a place of safety 
when it threatened to boil over, Earny slipped this 
over the home plate. 

" Well Hombre, there are a number of things 
that a fellow will do that makes it hard to fill the 
stringer. First, nearly everyone tries to cast too 
far; they have an idea that unless they make about 
75 feet of line fly off the reel on a cast that said cast 
was a failure, while as a matter of fact, as you well 
know, a cast of from 25 to 30 feet will get more fish 
than the longer casts, unless the water is very clear, 
and then throw it out not above 50 feet." And this 
has been checked up many times in watching Earny 
fish. He never throws his arm out of joint, but lets 
the wrist and rod do most of the work, and I have 
seen him get strikes within ten feet of the boat, and 
even right up alongside as the lure left the water. 

USE SMALL SPOONS 

" And another thing," said Earny, as he wiped 
the smoke out of his eyes. " Some of the spoons 
and spinners they bring up into this country are some 
size. They sure use 'em too large. I have always 
found a small spoon, say a No. 2 or 3, about right 
for most fishing. Of course you can use them up 
to No. 6 or 8 on a rough day, when the water is 
moving a bit, but the great big chunks of tin they 
try out on the musky sure must look funny to the old 
boys when they go by. It seems they think the 



TIPS FROM THE GUIDES 141 

larger the spoon the larger the fish, but I've caught 
'em up to 40 pounds with a little fellow, and I stick 
to that kind because it gets the fish. 

" Striking at the right time is another point," he 
said as we started work on the piping hot grub, fit 
for a king — at least it tasted so after a day's steady 
work at casting. " With the plugs they don't strike 
soon enough and with the natural bait they strike too 
soon. Unless a fish hooks itself by accident when 
he hits the artificial plug, the majority of fishermen 
are not ready to strike at the right time. You've 
got to strike 'em the minute they hit the plug or they 
throw it out. I think where the fall-down comes is 
in not practicing the transfer of the rod from the 
right to the left hand. Just before the plug hits the 
water, the reel should be stopped, and, while the rod 
is being swung from the right to the left, the retrieve 
of the plug should be started by a backward move 
of the rod. This takes up the slack at the start, 
gives your lure the right position, and still you have 
enough space to swing the rod farther back to strike 
your fish quickly if you get a strike. With the live 
minnows, however, these same fellows never give the 
fish a chance to swallow the bait. The bass, pike, 
pickerel or wall-eye generally takes but a small hold 
on the live bait and striking at that time, before he 
gets a chance to take it away for a short run, just 
pulls the bait out of his mouth. I say let 'em swal- 
low it — they ought to at least have that pleasure 



H2 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

anyway — then give a quick, sharp strike with a 
wrist movement. Instead of this, quite a few of the 
boys seem to think they've got to pump the fish clean 
out of the water. At least that's the way it looks 
to me when I see them give a long, swinging sweep 
of the arm to the strike. 

GIVE YOUR BAIT A CHANCE 

" Of course you can't expect a strike on every 
cast," Earny said, as he pulled the boat to a favorite 
underwater weed bed where we intended to take a 
whirl at dusk casting, " but some of the boys put on 
a ' dowie,' give it a few tosses and then spend ten 
minutes good casting time changing to another bait. 
And they keep this up all day, never giving any one 
particular bait a chance to make good. To get fish 
you've got to keep the bait in the water, and while 
it's in the water keep it moving. I believe in reeling 
in fast, as a game fish strikes on the impulse. He 
don't take much time to think about it and you should 
help out the game by keeping the bait moving, as 
this heips to deceive him into thinking it's escaping 
feed." 

So you see, Old Timer, if you want an earful of 
real fishing facts, lay your cards on the table with 
your pal, the guide, and play the game of the out- 
doors clean. It'll pay mighty well and start a 
friendship that will last for years. 



HOT WEATHER FISHING 

When the days are hot and the old sun is doing 
his best for the corn and his worst for the fisherman, 
it takes our entire deck of tricks to lure the game 
fish out of the deep, cool holes. Mid-summer heat 
drives the fish down to great depth in search of cold 
water and during only a few hours in the very early 
morning and at night do they come into the shallows 
to feed. At that time casting will land 'em ; the rest 
of the day you've simply to go down for them or 
sit on the cabin porch and hold a talkfest on how 
you landed that " big 'un " a couple of years ago. 

SEND THE BAIT DOWN 

For the hot weather, the greatest little old coaxer 
is live bait. Among the most used live kinds are 
the minnow, worms, helgramite, crawfish and frogs, 
while the grasshopper if used as a surface bait on 
streams will get a rise out of a big trout or bass 
when he wouldn't even take a look at a fly. 

If you are after bass, Old Man, when the mercury 
is popping high, locate a sand-bar or spring hole 
anywhere from thirty to a hundred feet down, if 
your fishing waters go that deep, and let your little 
old live bait slowly settle to them and you will get 

143 



144 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

bass when the other fellow finds it necessary to be 
satisfied with pan fish. Right in mid-season, when 
the mercury was flirting with the 90-degree mark 
on an afternoon, I have had plenty of sport still- 
fishing for small-mouth bass. On Black Lake in 
northern Wisconsin, with Earny Wendt, the livest 
little old guide that ever handled a paddle, we have 
often located a school of small-mouth and by send- 
ing our mud minnows down to them, depleted the 
school to such an extent that the old " he-wop " 
teacher closed up for want of scholars. The water 
is exceptionally clear in Black Lake and at from 
thirty to forty feet, Earny, with his eagle eyes, could 
locate a school of bass and we would quietly fish it 
to a fare-you-well. From one school of eleven fine 
fellows we took eight before they wised up to the 
fact that there was a string to the bait offer. Often 
three or four bass would make a dart for the minnow 
only to be disappointed by the winner swimming off 
with his prey to stop and swallow it at his leisure. 
The run of the bass in this school, before stopping 
to swallow the bait, varied from 40 to 90 feet. 

SPORT FIT FOR A KING 

A few seasons ago at a lake that is considered 
very civilized waters and which has been fished to 
a finish for the past twenty years, three fishermen 
landed as nice a bunch of small-mouth bass on a hot 
August day as ever falls to the lot of an angler, and 



HOT WEATHER FISHING 145 

at that generally in his dreams. With a sun that 
burned through their shirts, these knights of the rod 
stuck to a spring hole they had located and from 90 
feet of water caught 48 small-mouth bass, ten of 
which ranged from 3^ to 5 pounds. And the bait 
they used was the common, wiggling angleworm. 
That same day many fishermen were casting in the 
shallows and failed to bring in enough bass to make 
a fair-sized breakfast. 

BIG ONES WERE THERE 

The wall-eyed pike is by nature a bottom fish and 
at any time of the season you have to go down for 
him, although at night he often comes into the shal- 
lows to feed. The usual thing is to troll for them 
in from 15 to 30 feet of water. I have always had 
an idea, Old Timer, that in deep lakes you could find 
him in warm weather in deeper water. I tried it 
out and sure enough I found him there. I trolled 
over a piece of near shore water, with a depth of 
about 15 feet, and the average wall-eye caught 
ranged from one and a half to two pounds. I then 
rigged up a regular deep-water trolling rig, gener- 
ally used for lake trout, and the first strike was a 
six-pounder. I trolled back and forth over this 
stretch of water and landed seven wall-eyed ranging 
from three and a quarter to seven and a half pounds. 
The average depth of the water was about 45 feet, 
it varying between 30 and 60 feet. 



146 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

HOW TO MAKE THE RIG 

The rig for this deep trolling is easily assembled 
and it sure takes your bait down to them. Take an 
eight-ounce cone-shaped sinker and attach it to the 
end of your line with a swivel; then take three pieces 
of line about three feet long and attach the first piece 
with a swivel to the line about three feet above the 
sinker. Three feet above the first line attach the 
second with a swivel, and three feet above that at- 
tach the other with a swivel. On the three ends of 
these lines swivel on an eight-inch piano wire leader, 
because the big wall-eyed pike have teeth that will 
cut through a line or gut leader. To your leaders 
attach either a single hook or a treble as you prefer, 
and bait each of these hooks with a six to eight-inch 
shiner or golden chub. Let your line down and find 
bottom, then troll along very slowly. The wall- 
eyed will strike very mildly for his size and swim 
away slowly with the bait. Let him take it some 
distance, then strike him and if he is any size you 
will have a fine time bringing him up to the boat. 
Fact is, he will probably make a couple of runs back 
to the bottom just when you think you have him to 
net. With this rig I had the fun of landing two 
wall-eyed pike at once, a three and three-quarter 
pounder and a five and a quarter and you can take it 
from me, Old Timer, I knew there was something on 
the line when they both began to " act up " for com- 



HOT WEATHER FISHING 147 

pany. In making this rig I think you will save 
tackle by using a weaker piece of line for your sinker 
connection than your reel line, as the sinker is liable 
to catch in the rocks on the bottom, and if the con- 
necting line is weaker, it will break and you only lose 
the sinker. A small spoon, say about a No. 3, placed 
in front of the bait will make it more attractive, or 
an Archer spinner ought to look good to most wall- 
eye. 



LITTLE POINTS THAT COUNT 

There are lots of little points to the fishing game 
that a fellow overlooks in his effort to acquire a 
working knowledge of the main show under the big 
top, and any one of these " little fellers " may mean 
the loss of a fine old specimen of the finny tribe. 
And hear me, you fishermen, is there anything more 
cussed uncomfortable than to lose a fish, after you 
once hook him, through some little old piece of tackle 
giving up the ghost right when it should not or 
through the fact that some info tip has been for- 
gotten in the excitement of hooking the big one? 
And should this happen in the presence of a fellow 
artist, good-night! 'Twill be many a day before 
you hear the last of it, and much advice will be 
handed you on the subject of how the other fellow 
would have handled the strike. 

ACCURACY VS. DISTANCE 

In bait-casting, accuracy in placing the bait in the 
right spot is really the greatest essential; far greater, 
in fact, than distance, which most fellows seem to 
develop more than anything else. Slamming the 
bait way over into the next county may get you a 
strike now and then, but deftly placing it in the open 

148 



LITTLE POINTS THAT COUNT 149 

pockets of the weed beds and lily pads is a hundred 
to one better shot on landing a strike, and at the 
same time you don't have to use up a barrel of arnica 
to reduce the stiffness in your casting arm. 

When you start casting keep at it; don't make a 
few casts and then loaf on the job or look around 
for a new location. Cast into every likely looking 
spot along the weeds, into the pockets, by the wind- 
falls and logs, every old place that you think a bass 
may be hanging around hoping for a feed. Keep 
your bait in the water and moving. Of course, a 
fellow cannot expect a strike on every cast, but plac- 
ing them right and keeping at it increases your 
chances and lowers the lost time on the fishing 
waters. One carelessly thrown cast not only kills 
that cast, but usually takes up enough time to kill two 
or three, and when you figure that you generally get 
a strike on an average of every 50 to 60 casts, it pays 
to make 'em all count. And also from another 
angle the careless cast gets a black eye. Many fish 
have been frightened out of good casting spots by a 
shot in the wrong place. Rather toss the bait, say 
30 or 40 feet and land it right, than shoot it 70 feet 
and land it any old place. 

KEEP THE LINE TAUT 

Up out of the water and back again is a favorite 
trick of the bass, and if he lands on a taut line when 
he flops back, he nearly always makes a getaway. 



150 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

As he comes up out of the water let your rod 
straighten out and give him slack, but take it away 
from him as he strikes the water. Except when a 
bass breaks water, the line should be taut at all times, 
and a bend kept in the rod. This spring of the rod 
is the pressure that eventually tires him while you are 
playing him. Trying to hurry the fish to the net is 
often the cause of a lost big one. Give him line 
when he wants it, but make him fight for it, reeling 
in at every chance. If you have him out in clean 
water, away from the weeds and snags of the shal- 
lows, give him a bit of line and enjoy a real piece of 
sport by playing him until he shows his wide side up. 
When you bring a fish to net, lead him up to the 
net head first. Have the net about a foot under 
water and lead your fish right into it. Don't move 
the net towards him. That scares a fish into a fight 
of renewed vigor that will likely end with a lost fish. 
Keep the net perfectly still and when he is inside raise 
it with a quick motion into the boat. 

WATCH YOUR BAIT 

The majority of bass strike an artificial bait the 
moment it hits the water or as it starts on the way 
back to the caster, although at times they will strike 
close up to the boat. This makes it necessary to 
make a quick transfer of the rod from the right hand 
to the left and to start reeling in the line as the bait 
hits the water. This prompt starting of the reel 



LITTLE POINTS THAT COUNT 151 

gives you a taut line, and many bass hit the lure with 
enough force to hook themselves if the line is taut. 
It also makes your strike more effective. You have 
a better chance to set the hook firmly with a taut line 
than to try it with slack. Developing the strike at 
the right moment is important and skill in starting 
the reel quickly can be acquired by keeping the eyes 
on the lure and not on the reel. 

LINE WEAKENS AT END 

Give the line a thought now and then, Old Man. 
The wear on the first few feet of a line in a day's 
casting is considerable and it is a mighty good plan 
to test it out before starting on the morning's exer- 
cise. The heavy artificials give the line a sharp pull 
at the start, and the friction on the guides and tip 
soon wear it to a weak spot. Especially for the tail- 
end fall fishing it is well to be sure of the line. At 
this time, particularly, the bass seem to be endowed 
with a line of " pep " and fighting spirit that makes 
a rotten line easy picking for his lordship. Then 
again, a worn line is an expensive end of the outfit, 
as many lures are lost through the line snapping 
while they are en route to the waiting fish. Test 
your line before fishing by pulling it between the 
hands and break off the weak end. As a fish saver 
this is sure some real dope. 

For general all round casting the overhead cast 
is the best, and it is far more accurate than the side 



152 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

swipe and not by far as dangerous to your fishing 
companion. At times when it is advisable to throw 
a long one, or the natural conditions make it neces- 
sary, the side cast can be used to advantage. But 
for steady casting and placing your bait right, the 
overhead has 'em all panting for breath. 



: ?v " ; "' :;v: ' ■"' - ;/ ' ^-v-. 




A few game beauties- from Northern Wisconsin, all played and 
landed on light tackle handled with skill. On the left, Fred H. Farns- 
worth, of Chicago, with a 37-pound muskellunge, which he landed in the 
waters of Arbor Vita? Lake. The rod used was a 5%-ounce split bamboo 
and the lure a fairly large sucker. 



Upper center, Robert H. Moulton, of Chicago, netting a 7*4 -pound 
large-mouth bass in the Eagle River waters. Mr. Moulton fought this 
old grand-daddy with a 5-ounce rod and brought him to net unassisted. 

On the right, Theodore Nordholm, of Chicago, and a 23 pound pike 
he landed from Gillette Lake. Nordholm's line was considerably weakened 
by continued casting and it was necessary for him to play this game fin 
thirty minutes before he could flop him into the boat. The line later 
tested out at %y 2 pounds on the break. Some skill at the game, old-timer. 

Lower center, small-mouth bass, weight 6>4 pounds, caught by Wal- 
ter Marggraf, of Chicago, in the Wisconsin River, at Eagle River. The 
northern reaches of the Wisconsin River are ideal small-mouth waters. 



WHAT MAKES 'EM DO IT 

Fishing, like most everything else, has its share of 
contradictions. Outside of the general run of the 
game such as bait, plug or fly casting and the method 
of tossing the lure to the eager fish, you are likely, 
Old Man, to find the entire deck of rules and regu- 
lations passed into the discard by the fish themselves. 

Of course, a knowledge of the habits and home 
life of the different fish, gained through study and 
observation, gives us a basis upon which we can 
safely rely in our efforts to entice the big fins to a 
closer acquaintanceship. At the same time the ex- 
periences of fellow anglers add much valuable data 
upon which to base out campaigns " somewhere on 
the waters." 

With all this dope on the " how " of the game 
packed away in our gray matter and the tackle box 
jammed to the lid, with the few extras stuck in the 
grip, we feel that we have 'em yelping for help be- 
fore we even hit the steel for the home grounds of 
the game boys. 

MUSKY WITH AN APPETITE 

Following rule 'steen hundred or so, we select a 
nice little shiner about eight inches long for a try at 

153 



154 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

the musky. Down in our heart we have a sort of 
feeling that the bait is too large ; it looks mighty big 
in the water. Then the strike, the rapid fight of the 
wolf of the waters, the landing and finally the hero 
stuff as you reach camp with a 30-pounder. This 
is the usual musky story, but along comes Ed. 
Dressel, a light tackle enthusiast, who hooks a 30- 
pounder on a small red Jamison bass fly and on land- 
ing the musky Ed. is surprised to find the feet and 
legs of a full-grown mud hen sticking out of the 
fish's throat. He had not been able to entirely 
swallow this water-fowl before he took a wallop at 
a little old bass fly. And what shows him up as a 
real hog of the first water is the fact that another 
mud-hen was found in his stomach by the taxidermist 
who stuffed him. 

What makes 'em do it? Here is a musky gorged 
to the mouth on about 5^ pounds of eats and he 
meets his Waterloo because he took a crack at a little 
feathered hook about three inches long. Hunger 
certainly did not drive him to it, that's a dead sure 
bet, and a possible explanation is that he hit the fly 
because his instinct is to attack. Then again, Ed. 
might have tossed that fly all around him without 
the musky giving it even so much as a glance. 

FULL OF FOOD AND FIGHT 

This fighting instinct is not to be credited to the 
musky alone because it crops out strong in both the 



WHAT MAKES 'EM DO IT 155 

large and small-mouth bass, as well as the pike and 
pickerel. Recently in a small lake in Michigan a 
four-pound large-mouth bass was caught on a white 
Wilson wobbler and this old-timer had a 14-ounce 
croppie stuck in his mouth. A photograph of this 
bass shows that his mouth is stretched to the limit 
and that the job of inhaling the croppie was just 
about the largest meal he ever attempted. Yet with 
as much speed and dash as he could manage, with 
such a mouthful, this bass made a savage attack and 
succeeded in hooking himself in the side of the 
mouth. Which seems to point to the fact that the 
bass strikes not always for hunger, but with the idea 
of showing that they are the boss of the home waters 
and resent the approach of the wiggling, wobbling 
lures as they splash in their locality. 

Most musky, pike and pickerel are caught on very 
small lures. Artificial minnows and plugs ranging 
from two inches to four inches seem to make the 
deepest impression on these old barbarians, while 
more strikes are lost with the larger lures, notwith- 
standing that they are touted by some tackle dealers 
as big fish killers. The larger artificials will attract 
the big ones, but it seems that the fish can get a 
leverage on the larger lures, while they cannot on 
the smaller ones. On the larger baits the tail hooks 
are often torn out by the fish and it appears they are 
able to shake them loose far more easily than the 
ordinary bass plug. For general all-round bait cast- 



156 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

ing, whether you are after these old roughnecks of 
the weed beds or the gamer scrapper, the bass, you 
can figure it both ways from the jack that the smaller 
lure has it all over the larger one. 

And spoons, Old Man — can you dope it out why 
a gray-whiskered musky, victor of many a hard- 
fought battle, with a mouth like a coal scuttle, will 
delight in snapping his jaws over a little No. 3 sized 
spoon hook? Records of the big fellows caught on 
the spoon during the past season show that the 
average sized spoon used was around a No. 7, while 
the largest musky ever known to be caught with a 
rod, line and reel answered to the flash of a No. 8 
spoon. Of course, according to the size of a fish, a 
fellow dopes out that he needs a big old spoon, 
around a No. 12 or No. 14, and at that it looks 
mighty small for the big ones, but the fact remains 
that the big fellows really go crazy over the medium 
sized spoons which, twirling around, flash an irre- 
sistible invitation to the big fins to come and strike 
one. 



FIFTY LARGE-MOUTH BASS AND HOW 
THEY CAME TO GAFF 

A REVIEW OF THE BAITS, THE TIME AND THE 

CONDITION OF THE WEATHER WHEN 

THESE BASS WERE LANDED 

What is really the best bass bait is a question that 
would stagger any fisherman; that is, to give any- 
thing more than a general idea of what has been 
considered the regular old line dope. But giving a 
line of information based on the experiences of fifty 
fishermen during a single season, stacks us up against 
a real bunch of facts and figures that makes good 
data for our memory book. What color makes the 
old " he-wop " fighting mad, and at what part of 
the season is he particularly fond of the chunk of 
red cedar, the fat juicy pork rind, or the wiggling 
minnow and frog? 

Here's the dope on fifty large-mouth bass weigh- 
ing from five pounds up to eight and one-half, and 
it makes the past performance sheet of an " also 
ran " look like an A-B-C chart. Twenty-two of 
these bass answered to the call of the artificial 
wooden plug or bait; nine of them fell for the 
wiggling pork rind; eight came to gaff through their 

157 



158 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

desire to gorge on minnows; seven were tempted by 
the little old green-backed frog; and four cashed in 
at the flash of the spoon hook. 

ARTIFICIAL PLUGS WERE ATTRACTIVE 

Of the twenty-two artificial lures, the majority 
were shaped like a minnow and of an average length 
of three and three-quarter inches, which is about the 
standard length of most plugs for bass. As a color 
that made 'em " see red," the white stands out as 
an easy winner with eleven to its credit. But the 
white alone did not do the trick, as eight of these 
baits had a dash of red; either the head was red or 
the top or flutes were so painted. A combination of 
green and white is next, with four to its credit, a 
mottled green back and white belly forming the gen- 
eral make-up. The rainbow color slips in with two, 
as does the red, while the yellow plug closes the 
game with one. From this it looks like good dope 
to count on the white and red, the green and white, 
and the rainbow. It is also of interest to know that 
the green and white combination and the rainbow 
colors were used in the bright sunlight in exception- 
ally clear water, while the pure whites and white 
and reds were more successful in the early and later 
hours and on the murky days and in rough water. 
The green and white and rainbow plugs were used 
in July and August, the whites through the entire 
season. 



FIFTY LARGE-MOUTH BASS 159 

PORK RIND ALL-SEASON BAIT 

Lots of fishermen have overlooked the plebeian 
pork rind in the chase after the wily big fins, but 
now since the high cost of living has shot this old 
juicy morsel up into the turkey class, it probably will 
be more popular. It sure has a wiggle that makes 
the bass cross-eyed to get at it. Of the nine bass 
that were satisfied with a piece of pork, seven had 
the assistance of a small piece of red flannel or yarn 
to excite the curiosity of the fish, and six were rigged 
up with a small spinner or spoon in front of the pork 
rind. The pork rind bait was used right through 
the season, being particularly effective during July 
and August when the bass are generally in the deep 
holes except in the early morning or late night feed- 
ing. The wise ones will be sure to carry a bottle 
of pork rind in the tackle-box, for the days when the 
bass turn up their nose at most any kind of a bait 
you offer them. Toss a little pork to 'em when you 
are trying to dope out the right menu for the bronze- 
backer. 

NATURAL BAITS FOR HOT WEATHER 

The minnow, one of the natural foods of the bass, 
brought eight of these old-timers to the net, and the 
months of July and August, which are conceded to 
be the months that test the skill of the bass fisher- 
man, were the ones in which the minnow was most 



160 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

effective. This, however, does not prove that the 
minnow is not a tempting bait during the rest of the 
season, as it is the general thing to use the artificials 
early and late in the season, at which time they are 
mighty attractive lure, although early in the morn- 
ing and late at night and for night fishing the ar- 
tificials are great little casting lures during July and 
August. Of the minnows, the silver shiner or dace 
seemed to be the one that tickled the palate of the 
bass, probably the flash of its silvery sides making 
an invitation too strong for the big fins to resist. 
The mud minnow, with its yellowish golden tint and 
husky constitution, was second choice, with the river 
or creek chub closing the balloting. The silver 
shiner is a fine bait for any time or condition of 
water and is particularly good on dark and cloudy 
days and when the water is rough or murky. The 
chub is a winner on bright days and in clear and 
still water, while the mud minnow is a lively cuss 
and is on the job every minute he is in the water. 
For a lively wiggler, the mud minnow has the rest 
of the minnow family standing still. Three of 
these minnows had casting spoons rigged on the 
hook to help the game along. Three of the bass 
were caught in the shallows and five coaxed out of 
the deep water by letting the minnow sink after the 
cast and then reeling in the bait slowly a foot or so 
from the bottom. Taking the minnow from any 
angle, it is a good bass bait, but no doubt was not 



FIFTY LARGE-MOUTH BASS 161 

used as much as the other lures, owing to the fact 
that it is hard to procure at times and is not as handy 
as the plug or pork rind. For deep-water fishing 
when the bass seem off the feed it has no equal. 

FROGS GOOD FOR WEED-BEDS 

To the hopping little green-backed, white-bellied 
frog, eight bass passed the time of day and were 
hooked for their curiosity, and again July and 
August stand out as the months in which this natural 
food made the strongest appeal to the bass. Three 
of the frogs were dressed up with a little piece of red 
flannel and five of the fish were taken from weed 
beds and three from alongside of logs and wind- 
falls. In the late season fishing in August the cast 
was made right into the weeds and the frog given a 
chance to sink a bit, then slowly reeled in, then an- 
other slow-up, and so on until the waiting bass struck 
him in his slow move among the weeds. Of course 
a weedless hook was used in most cases and on three 
of the frogs a small spoon was carried as a special 
inducement to the bass. 

The flash of the spoon was the swan song of four 
of the bass and one of these was an eight-and-one- 
half-pounder. This old granddaddy bass had 
passed his palmy days in a quarry hole, as clear and 
cool as any North Woods spring-fed lake, and the 
fisherman who was skillful enough to land this 
whopper had tried out everything in the bait line, 



162 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

from grasshoppers and minnows down to a dozen 
plugs without even getting a swirl. He took a final 
chance on a No. 6 spoon with a trebled bucktail 
hook, and the first cast brought a short strike, while 
the second cast with the spoon was struck like a 42- 
centimeter shell. August and September were the 
months in which these four bass were landed. Some 
credit is also due the spoon from the fact that it was 
used with other baits. There is nothing that makes 
a piece of pork rind more attractive than a very 
small spoon, about a No. 3, and it is also very effec- 
tive when used in conjunction with the frog or min- 
now. 

FALL FISHING WELL IN LEAD 

As to the time of the season when these fifty big 
fellows were caught, September stands out as a 
leader with thirteen. The run of the catch in the 
other months stacks up May three, June six, July 
ten, August eleven, and October seven. However, 
the majority of the followers of the call of the lake 
and stream take their main fishing trip during July, 
August, or September, and this in a way accounts 
for the big lead of the months of July and August, 
which are noted as hot-weather fishing-days that 
often give the bass the " off-the-feed " feeling. 
Early season bass-fishing is by far the best, although 
the fall fishing runs it a close second as the days of 
real bass sport with rod and reel. And at that, 



FIFTY LARGE-MOUTH BASS 163 

after the water has cooled a bit, the added ginger 
in the fighting qualities of the bass makes the late 
season fishing stand out as the one best bet in the 
game of enticing the old seasoned veteran out of his 
home waters. 

Dividing the twenty-four fishing-hours of the day 
into four sections, the morning hours from 4 A. M. 
to 9 A. M. carry off the largest number of fish, seven- 
teen being pegged up for that period, with the time 
from 4 p. M. to 9 p. M. nosing in a close second with 
sixteen on the scoreboard. Night casting comes in 
for a nice little honor, the period from 9 P. M. to 4 
A. M. showing ten bass, while the mid-day fishing 
from 9 A. m. to 4 P. M. lands seven. It was an easy 
bet that the early morning and late afternoon fishing 
would cop the main event, as that is the time most 
of the fellows make their greatest drive, but it is 
pleasing to note that the night fishing ran strong. 
No doubt the night game would have made a better 
showing had that period included some of the later 
hours of the four to nine period which practically 
come under the night casting. An interesting fact is 
that eight of these bass caught during the night were 
landed in August, and this seems to prove that the 
bass feed more at night during the hot " dog days " 
than at any other time of the day. Another little 
tip that is worth remembering is that the bass caught 
during the mid-day period were, with the exception 
of one lone bass, taken on live bait, either the min- 



1 64 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

now or frog. The artificial lure which coaxed the 
sleepy, lazy bass into striking during his mid-day 
siesta was a little two-inch copper enameled under- 
. water minnow that was cast out over a sand bar. It 
was allowed to sink and then reeled slowly across 
the bar. 

Shooting a glance across the dope sheet we find 
that the artificial lures have a big lead, with the most 
popular color a white with a dash of red. The live 
natural food of the bass, the minnows and frogs, 
make a fine showing in the hot weather months, 
when it takes some work to land 'em while the small 
spoon makes a hit as a helper by adding to the at- 
tractiveness of some of the other baits. The early 
and late day fishing have a nice lead while September 
puts the fall fishing at the head of the class. 

The bass, Old Timer, is a queer cuss and at the 
same time he is about as wise as any fish that wags 
a tail. To get him in any waters you have to study 
those waters and locate his home grounds. Keep 
your bait in the water and keep it moving, and what- 
ever bait you are using, give it a fair try-out before 
you change to another. A fellow can kill more good 
fishing time changing baits than most any other way, 
and the casts you lose probably are the ones the big 
fins miss. 



THE MUSKY 

Have you back-heeled your rod on a musky 
And fought him an hour without pause, 

On a silk-line that wasn't too husky — 
That wirelessed the smash of his jaws? 

Have you felt of him down in there crashing, 
And gave him the slack when he came 

To the top like a meteor flashing, 
Dead-weary, but sullen and game! 

Have you sensed his wild scurries diminish 

Except for a half-hearted flare, 
As you nursed him along to the finish — 

You've done it! Well, partner, you're there! 

— Albert Jay Cook. 

FIFTY MUSKY AND HOW THEY CAME 
TO GAFF 

A REVIEW OF THE BAITS, THE TIME OF THE YEAR 

AND DAY AND THE WEATHER CONDITIONS 

WHEN THESE BIG FINS WERE LANDED 

Cut the cards, Old Scout, because we're going to 
sit-in for a few hands with the musky, the livest big 
fin of the inland waters. And beginning with the 

165 



1 66 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

" openers," we sure have to keep our eyes on the 
game or the wiley old rascal will make a get-away 
with the kitty. Many sure-enough fishermen, who 
have never had the undiluted pleasure of bringing a 
man's-sized musky to gaff, tilt the nose skyward at 
some of the tales brought from the musky country 
and for that reason half has never been told about 
this game old boy. 

From experience we find that the musky has a 
varied menu and one of all sizes. Also that he is 
willing to go more than half way in the matter of 
accommodating the angler by striking most anything 
tossed to him. He never travels in a crowd but is 
a lone hunter, and his favorite spots are over sub- 
merged weed beds, off the edge of weed beds, water 
lilies or the grasses that grow in the water. Along- 
side of a submerged rock he will wait on the look- 
out for passing fish, then with a lightning dart he 
swirls out, closes his jaws on the feed and swims back 
to his hangout, there to gorge it, ready in a minute 
to make another dash to fill the feed-bag. The 
musky always strikes a lure or fish sideways and he 
strikes with plenty of force, often nosing a plug way 
up in the air when he strikes short. 

WHAT THE BIG FINS FALL FOR 

To the fellow who has never muskied much, but 
who has a deep buried ambition to take a wallop 
at this end of the game, and also the every-day. 



FIFTY MUSKY 167 

musky enthusiast, the following line of info gathered 
from the experiences of fifty of the boys who landed 
musky weighing from twenty to sixty-one pounds, 
will make mighty good dope to paste on the inside 
of your tackle box, and, incidentally save you from 
packing a line of whopping big spoons and lures in 
the outfit when you make your initial attempt at a 
close-up view of this old barbarian in his home 
waters. 

For many years the general method of coaxing 
the musky to gaff has been trolling, with fairly stiff 
and strong tackle, but the swan song of these fifty 
big fins indicates that the light tackle and casting 
are coming to the front as the real sporting game 
for musky. Against twenty-two caught by trolling, 
there looms up twenty-eight caught by casting, and 
a majority of six is not at all bad for an end of the 
game that is practically new. And of those landed 
through casting, seventeen checked in on steel rods, 
nine on bait casting split bamboo, while two had the 
extreme honor of being fought to a finish with light 
bamboo fly rods. 

Do you get the drift, Old Timer, of the fight these 
musky made on the off end of a six-ounce fly rod? 
It's a man's-sized job to land a musky on fairly 
strong tackle, but to trim one in on a little old whippy 
fly rod surely calls for clever work and skill against 
the brute strength and cunning of the musky. Fifty 
minutes of wonderful fight was the record of one of 



1 68 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

these fly rod battles of tackle skill against musky wile 
before the old dog would say " uncle." To that 
kind of sport I doff the lid, it's sure some fighting, 
boy, some fighting. 

Of the baits and lures dished up to these favored 
fifty, we find that twenty-one took a chance on the 
spoon, thirteen preferred artificial plugs, eight ended 
it all on suckers or shiners, four were introduced to 
Mr. Frog, two took the pork chunk (without the 
beans) and !;wo fell for the bass fly and spinner. 

CASTING FOR MUSKY POPULAR 

As trolling in the past has been the accepted man- 
ner of going after musky, so has the spoon been con- 
sidered the lure de luxe. But in digging into the 
matter we find that only fifteen of the twenty-one 
fish caught on the spoon were landed through troll- 
ing, the other six being caught by casting. In size 
the spoon sure takes a drop from what most innocent 
bystanders consider the right tool for the work. 
The largest spoon used was a No. 12 and the 
smallest a No. 3, the general average being a No. 7. 
And the largest musky of the lot, the 61-pounder, 
was caught on a No. 8 spoon with a large sized frog 
hooked on to the trebled hooks. In stocking up the 
tackle box for the season keep the spoons down to 
the smaller sizes and you'll sure find more use for 
the stringer. The great big affairs are not of any 
use and besides that they take up room in the tackle 



FIFTY MUSKY 169 

box and go at excess baggage rates, to say nothing 
of the fact that guides often get a quiet laugh out 
of an inspection of a musky kit. As to the finish of 
the spoons, thirteen were nickel, five brass and three 
copper. 

Of the artificial or wooden plugs, three were of 
large size while ten were the ordinary bass casting 
baits. In the matter of colors, the white with red 
trimmings comes in with five, the rainbow has three 
to its credit, perch color two, with a scattering of one 
each to the other colors. As with the bass, it seems 
that the white with the touch of red makes the lure 
that caused 'em to hop right up and say " howdy 
boys." 

BLACK SUCKER A FAVORITE 

The black sucker was the favorite natural bait, 
with a record of five, while the shiner pegs along 
with two and the perch also two, the size of these 
baits ranging from six to nine inches. And by the 
way, when suckers and shiners are hard to get, just 
take a sharp knife and cut off the dorsal fin from a 
fair-sized perch and try that out as a musky bait. 
Cutting off the fin doesn't hurt the perch, nor does 
it take any of the wiggle out of him. 

The frog doesn't line up very strong in the lay- 
out, mainly because he is not used so much for the 
big fellows (incidentally, each of the four frogs that 
trapped these musky had a spoon geared on in front 



170 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

of it to help matters along) and the pork chunk 
probably hits it up on low, to the tune of two fish 
for the same reason, very few of the boys feeding 
it to the hungry musky — they prefer it themselves 
a la Heinz. For the fellow who has the pep to take 
a whirl with the fly rod, the dope shows that the 
weighted red Ibis bass fly with a No. 3 spoon was 
the rig that made the two big fins take a chance on 
the fly. And who in the outfit would ever think a 
great big overgrown musky, with a mouth like a coal 
scuttle, would even take a passing glance at a little 
red bass fly, let alone strike it? 

As to the time of the season when the musky is 
most eager to give battle, September leads with 
fifteen, July twelve, August ten, June eight, and 
October five. Of course as early as June there are 
not, as a rule, as many fishermen out after the musky 
as in July or August, and the same thing stands for 
September. Without a doubt, June is a better 
month for musky than either July or August and they 
show almost as snappy a fight in that month as 
they do in September or October, when the colder 
waters have shot into them a streak of pep that gives 
a kick to their tails like the off hind leg of an army 
mule. 

MOUTH IN POOR SHAPE 

About the middle of August the musky loses his 
teeth, and his mouth is in such shape that it takes 
something mighty aggravating to arouse enough 



FIFTY MUSKY 171 

anger to make him forget his sore molars and strike. 
There have been some beautiful arguments started 
among the fishermen who are still in the pan fish 
stage of the game through the statement that the 
musky loses his teeth each year; however, as late as 
September tenth of last season I examined three 
musky caught on that day and in the mouth of each 
was a new set of sharp-edged teeth, firmly set, while 
hanging loosely in the back were still the remains of 
the old teeth which had not entirely parted company 
with their owners. This was later than usual for 
the old teeth to remain, as they are generally gone 
by the first week in September and at times slightly 
earlier than that. No doubt this law of nature is 
the same one that governs the shedding of the skin 
of the snake and the renewing of the horns of the 
deer. At the same time of the year when the musky 
is changing his teeth the pickerel or pike have a 
swelling of the gums that puts them out of the fight- 
ing game until the gums go back to normal. The 
gums of the pike will often swell clear over the teeth 
and they are very much inflamed and sore, making 
eating some painful work. 

These conditions during the latter part of August 
take the muskies off their feed, but when the mouth 
is in good shape again they are more than anxious 
to make up for the last time in filling the feed-bag 
to excess. This hungry condition and the fine feel- 
ing mouth, together with the pep gained from the 



172 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

colder bracing water, surely endows them with more 
energy than during the warmer months and assures 
the " Muskyteer " of a game antagonist during 
September and October. The fact that only five of 
the fifty were caught in October does not stand 
against this month, as few of the boys enjoy the un- 
alloyed pleasure of fishing for musky in this month, 
at which time he is there with a keen, clear brain 
and a well developed tailful of tricks that would 
make a poker shark look like an amateur. 

OVERCAST DAY IS THE BEST 

Weather conditions varied greatly when these fifty 
muskies lined up for the roll of honor. The day 
was cloudy or overcast when nineteen connected up 
with the hook, clear day, sixteen; bright sunny day, 
eight; raining, five; and two were caught while it 
was snowing. As to the water on these days, 
eighteen were caught on comparatively still water or 
slightly ruffled, twenty-two when the water was 
ruffled or broken, and ten were landed in rough 
water with considerable wind blowing. When the 
water is slightly roughened by the wind and break- 
ing in small waves, or on an overcast or cloudy day, 
makes good musky weather, although he may sur- 
prise you in any kind or style of weather and strike 
your lure while you are loafing along into shore to 
make landing for the noonday grub, trolling a line 
along, of course, for just such an emergency strike. 



FIFTY MUSKY 173 

The time of the day did not seem to cut much 
figure in the layout as three periods, morning, mid- 
day and afternoon fishing, run about even. Morn- 
ing fishing, from 7 until 11, heads the days 
sports with eighteen, while both mid-day fishing, 
from 11 A. M. until 3 P. M., and afternoon fishing, 
from 3 P. M. until 9, get credit for sixteen each. 
The majority of the fish caught in the morning and 
afternoon were landed by casting while trolling was 
the method most used during the mid-day fishing. 
It is interesting to note that in August, the month in 
which the musky is least active, all the fish caught 
came to grief in the early morning or late afternoon. 
However, as the great number of these fish were 
caught on the overcast days or days without much 
sun, the mid-day period shows up very well for the 
musky fishing. Although as a general thing fishing 
is better during the early and late hours of the day, 
on an overcast or cloudy day there is no reason why 
it should not be good during the whole day, es- 
pecially if the surface of the water is a bit on edge. 

RIVER MUSKY A FIGHTER 

The home waters of thirty-eight of these fifty 
roughnecks were located in lakes and twelve were 
raised in the rivers or streams. And right here I 
want to chalk up a little dope ; the river-raised musky 
is a mighty husky proposition to handle for he's on 
the move more than his lake brother, in his daily 



174 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

skirmish for feed, and his continual kick against the 
current makes him a mighty active cuss when you 
connect up with him. In fact it takes just a little 
keener work with the tackle to land him, and nine 
times out of ten he is a tiger musky, which is sure 
some fighter to handle on light tackle. I think the 
river chap is just a bit more foxy and quick to avail 
himself of the natural advantages of the getaway, 
such as underwater logs, snags, etc., than the laker, 
as he usually travels a certain stretch of river year 
in and year out and gets fairly well acquainted with 
every avenue of escape. I know one old villain who 
has been kicking around at a certain bend in the 
Wisconsin River three years, and next season, or 
some following season, I hope to land him. Twice 
he gave me the once over and departed at his leisure, 
and I sure hand him the credit of knowing his home 
trails and being able to take care of himself after 
dark. 

EAGLE RIVER WATERS HOME OF MUSKY 

Thirty-six of these musky were caught in Wis- 
consin waters, eight were taken from the St. 
Lawrence waters, four from lower Canadian waters, 
and two from Minnesota. Wisconsin stands out as 
the real home of the musky and the Eagle River 
waters, from which the majority of these game boys 
were taken, is certainly a wonderful breeding ground 
for his lordship. The lakes in the Eagle River 
waters seem to have just the right formation under- 



FIFTY MUSKY 175 

water to make a happy hunting ground for the 
musky, and they are as plentiful there now as in the 
early days, in fact they appear to be on the increase. 
Taking a slant over the deck, we find that the 
spoon is in the lead as a musky lure, with the artificial 
plug coming strong. And as more use is made of 
the regular-sized bass plugs for musky casting, its 
a good bet that they will keep on coming stronger 
each year, until the smaller plug is recognized as 
being as much of a lure for musky as it is for bass. 
The white, with a dash of red, and the rainbow 
colors seem to be the favorites among the artificials 
while the sucker, shiner and perch show up well as 
natural baits. Going light for musky in the way of 
tackle has the chair and the usual bass casting outfit, 
with a little heavier test line, makes the game one 
of real sport. The ideal day for the big fellows is 
one in which the sun has been backed off the boards 
with the surface of the water doing a " Salome." 
Any of the open months look pretty good, and with 
the right kind of weather, Old Man, you ought to be 
able to connect up with the livest bunch of wiggle 
that has ever been concentrated into a single fresh- 
water fish. Here's to the musky, the Villa of the 
weed-beds! May he live long and die fighting — 
and when he does, you'll recall many a time the chills 
that raced up your spine when he first broke water 
and you lamped his size and caught the gleam of his 
cruel eye. 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 

BEING THE SWAN SONG OF SOME BIG FISH TOLD BY 
THEIR CAPTORS 

There is probably no angle of the game that will 
give one a better insight into the habits of the dif- 
ferent fish in their effort to evade the landing net 
or gaff, than the stories of how these fish were ac- 
tually landed. As fishing editor of the Chicago 
Herald, and especially while handling the game fish- 
ing contests held by that newspaper, I have had the 
pleasure of reading the obituaries of some of the 
largest fish caught with rod and reel. Without a 
doubt, much can be learned from the experience of 
others and for that reason I have selected a few of 
these stories of the landing of large and small-mouth 
bass, muskellunge, pike and wall-eyed pike, which I 
feel sure will give one an idea of what to expect 
from the game fins. 

One point that makes these stories particularly 
interesting is the fact that they are not written by 
what might be termed professional fishermen, but 
are the stories of the ordinary every-day sportsman, 
who fishes when he gets the chance, while a few of 

176 



Fine bass waters among the lily pads and bog brush. A three 
pounder was hooked alongside of the log in the lower pocket, and two 
were taken on three casts from the pocket between the two clumps of 
bog brush. The bass sure like to feed among the underwater branches 
and roots of the bog brush, and" to get 'em you have to place the plug 
accurately and close into the edge of the growth. 



Among the windfalls and logs the bass are right at home and they 
have a habit of lying alongside and under these natural retreats. The 
leaning pine throws a fine shadow over the water and there is just 
'enough break to the surface to make ideal casting. The bass must be 
quickly worked out to deeper water or he is sure to wrap the line around 
a windfall and make a getaway. Two bass were taken out of this cosy 
corner and one lost on a snag. 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 177 

them are by keen fellows who are just breaking into 
the game. 

FINDS BIG ONE IN QUARRY HOLE 

Very few fishermen have the honor of landing a 
large-mouth bass that has accumulated the weight of 
8 Yz pounds. When bass arrive at that weight they 
generally are so wise and sagacious that they die of 
old age. To match wits with a bass of this size was 
the good fortune of I. C. Fitts of Evanston, Illinois, 
and the battle took place in the cool, clear waters 
of an abandoned quarry hole, the last place some 
of the boys would expect to find a real man's-sized 
bass. I. C. passes out the thrills as follows: 

" There are acres of old abandoned quarries about 
a mile southeast of Joliet that have filled with cold, 
clear water from neighboring brooks and springs. 
These holes are of all shapes and sizes and deep or 
shallow as the huge machinery has dug them. The 
sides are piled high with rubble or stone unfit for 
use, but these banks are covered with a generous 
growth of willows, keeping the pools from getting 
too hot, even in the hottest sun. 

" The one our old ' Warrior ' picked for his 
stamping ground is locally known as Clear Lake 
quarry, and lives up to its name in every respect, 
being a clear, blue pond with high banks and perhaps 
ten or fifteen feet of water in the deepest hole. 
That nice bass were in this hole could be told any 



178 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

evening by seeing them jump for flies or coming up 
into sight during the day to bask in the sun. The 
next problem was a bait they would take. Grass- 
hoppers swarmed about the adjoining banks and 
minnows were so thick that the bass would turn tail 
and leave their customary food as though insulted 
if offered one. 

STRIKES ON NO. 8 SPOON 

" September i, if you remember, was a rainy, 
nasty, no-account day, that brought on the tired feel- 
ing people so often complain of in the spring, and, 
being no exception to the rule, I strung up the old 
casting outfit of musky fame in Wisconsin waters 
in preparation of a little try for some fish. 

" Having arrived at the quarries with grass- 
hoppers and plenty of artificial bait I started out 
with a fine hopper and fished as though my life de- 
pended on it with no sign of any results. They were 
full of them. A change of bait is the only remedy 
a fisherman has to rely on if they won't bite and I 
had just finished putting on a No. 8 South Bend 
Bucktail Spoon when the ' Old Boy ' expressed his 
high state of feeling by breaking water two or three 
times in rapid succession. Needless to say I was 
with him right off and skittered the spoon from a 
slanting rock on the opposite side of the pool. 

" You could accuse anybody of meddling with the 
truth if he tried to tell you how fast that fish got 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 179 

over there but he almost broke himself in two, con- 
necting up with the bait and right there my heart 
sank; he missed it. I'did not say much, mainly, be- 
cause there was no one around to say it to but they 
would hang me for writing what I thought. All this 
cloud passed over directly the next cast had nicely 
settled and he hit again in dead earnest. 

" Things began to happen fast, and for the next 
few minutes he was the most disagreeable bass I 
ever had anything to do with. He cut fancy circles 
around the pond for fully ten minutes without re- 
sults and then headed for a bunch of old timbers 
over in the far corner. The tackle twisted around 
as though it had hooked into an express train and I 
sure would have been minus a fish if he had not sud- 
denly changed his mind and come straight in toward 
me. For the first time, I gained line on him a little 
and he sulked the rest of the way in to within six 
or eight feet of shore. About that time I got over 
the excitement well enough to wade out and bring 
home the bacon. Sweet odors from the spider that 
evening told plainly what had happened down at 
the quarries the day about 10 o'clock and in mem- 
ory of the event there is a nice head mounted in my 
room." 

FOUR A. M. AND A SIX-POUNDER 

At the tail end of July, while the mercury was 
hitting the high spots, George Berghammer of Mil- 



180 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

waukee, Wisconsin, landed a six-pound, large-mouth 
bass while fishing at four o'clock in the morning, at 
which time the fish are usually on the feed, the heat 
later in the day driving them to the deep holes from 
which they are particularly hard to coax with any 
kind of bait or lure. Here are a few words from 
George on his bass: 

" I landed this bass in the Wolf River at Fre- 
mont, Wisconsin. It is the largest bass I ever have 
caught and it sure made some fight before I netted 
it. The bass from the Wolf River are scrappers 
and this one was no exception. He took the frog, 
hook and all, and after playing with it for a while 
headed for the weeds. Then he found out he was 
hooked and turned on the line, got a little slack and 
hopped out of the water clear into the air for a shake 
that certainly showed his strength. I made the reel 
sing and jerked him ' off his feet ' before he loosened 
the hook. I played him for about thirty-five minutes 
and it was some sport. He made other breaks out 
of the water, but none like the first." 

Many fellows might overlook one lone rush stick- 
ing up out of the water as the lounging place of a 
six-and-a-half-pound, large-mouth bass, but not so 
C. E. Peterson of Chicago, who cast his lure along- 
side of a solitary old rush and was rewarded with 
an exciting few minutes before he landed his prize, 
and the following story shows that it pays to keep 
the eyes open : 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 181 

JIM DANDY FOR HOT WEATHER 

" Who said that the bass would not bite in July? 
It was the morning of July 7 when I looked from my 
window on to Long Lake, a small quiet lake in Wis- 
consin. Quiet because it was low and surrounded 
by wooded banks which keep the wind from disturb- 
ing its mirror-like surface. The water was reflect- 
ing the hot sun heat waves, but it was not too hot 
for me, as I knew it was the day I would make good. 
It was a shame to push the boat into the water to 
disturb its quietude, but it was fish I was after, not 
scenery. The once-over of the tackle and I was on 
my way casting here and there looking for likely 
spots where I thought Mr. Bass would be lurking. 
Giving my boat a push I saw a lonely rush protrud- 
ing a few inches above the surface. I had a hunch 
that Mr. Bass was fanning himself with his nose up, 
against this rush. Dropping my Jim Dandy bait 
alongside, the rush moved, the water opened, and 
Mr. Bass was hooked. Up in the air he went shak- 
ing himself to break loose and I shaking myself to- 
gether for the one play of my life. Down he goes 
to the bottom, then for a long run; then up in the 
air again. The combination of tackle and muscle 
was too much for him, and alongside he came. A 
quick movement of the hand and he was mine. 
There he lay quivering from exhaustion and I shak- 
ing from excitement. A whopping big bass was all 
my own." 



i82 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

From a fine weed-bed, the natural feeding grounds 
of the large-mouth bass, Joseph T. Galliker of 
Chicago coaxed a six-pound six-ounce big fellow 
during the tail end of September. This bass was 
caught in a lake that has been fished for years and 
is considered very " civilized " waters : 

CAST INTO WEED POCKETS 

" I was right in the center of a fine weed-bed, 
shooting the Bass-areno plug into the pockets and 
openings. I had just made a fairly long cast into 
a pocket and was beginning to reel in when this old 
" he-wop " hit the bait like a dick walloping a second- 
story artist. As soon as I struck him he beat it for 
his home weed-bed, and it took some thumb pressure 
to hold him as he started away as though he had a 
date at the far end of the lake. He then settled on 
the bottom and sulked, tugging away like a bull pup. 
I gave him the butt, a bit, and he made a run for the 
surface, breaking water in a wonderful jump. Fail- 
ing to shake the plug lose, he made a swing around 
a bunch of weeds and then headed for the boat. I 
had to speed up some to get in the slack before he 
broke water again. It was sure a beautiful fight in 
among the weeds, but eighteen minutes of it was 
enough for the Old Timer, and, as I brought him up 
to the boat, his final flops were the last efforts of a 
worn out warrior." 

During a snow storm late in September, Albert 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 183 

Jay Cook of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, tried his luck 
at McNaughton, Wisconsin, and from the cold 
waters of Black Lake landed a five-pound fifteen- 
ounce, small-mouth bass. To land a small-mouth of 
this size is a mighty pleasant task and little does the 
true fisherman care whether it is snowing, raining, 
blowing or what not, if he can match his angling skill 
with the keen trickery of a grown-up small-mouth. 
Here is the yarn A. J. spins about his polar-bear 
bass: 

COLD WEATHER BASS SHOWS SPEED 

" Swish ! Out of the weed-bed he whip-lashed 
like a cupro-nosed perforator from an automatic 25. 
Then Zing! I thought for a moment that I had 
been transferred in some unbelievable manner to the 
Baltic Sea and had struck a submarine torpedo en- 
dowed with life. 

" To begin at the beginning. It had been a bad 
two weeks. The underwater plants, late for the 
season, were in full bloom. Rain all the time and 
the last three days freezing, with three snowstorms 
on the side. A few casts from the boat, with the 
icy, spray-coated wind swirling over the choppy lake, 
and then a return cabinward, with frosted toes, 
fingers and language and the casting thumb almost 
rubbed to the bone. 

" The evening before the last day of our stay I 
had picked up a curious, sharklike artificial minnow. 



1 84 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

It interested me, this Pflueger-surprise minnow, as I 
twirled it back and forth in the shadows of the 
flickering cabin light, I must have a try with it, I 
decided. 

" So on this, the afternoon of the last day, I and 
my brother, Byron V., who had captured several nice 
specimens of the genus bass and had been express- 
ing extreme pity on me in a sarcastic way, pushed 
off from the wharf. We tore across the lake to a 
juicy bay, from which we had harvested several beau- 
ties a few days before. I sat in the stern idly 
casting my minnow toward the weed-beds, until my 
hands and disposition felt like plank slabs. 

" As brothers in a boat sometimes do, we were 
placing cutting remarks where they would fit; my re- 
marks anent his rowing were extremely polite, but 
if I do say it myself, they cut deeper than the snowy 
gale that was blowing. He complimented me beau- 
tifully on my angling ability, with a hoarse sardonic 
laugh which tingled into me like a harpoon. I was 
slowly reeling in my line, indulging in repartee, when 
it happened. It struck ! 

TWENTY MINUTES OF RUSHING BATTLE 

" It is strange how soon temperatures change in 
northern Wisconsin. One minute it is below freez- 
ing and then it jumps to summer heat; and believe 
me, when that old fish began to patter through his 
bagful of tricks the mercury spurted from the top of 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 185 

the thermometer like Old Faithful geyser. He took 
the line as though he had an afternoon tea date at 
the North Pole; then he came back strong, broke 
water and decided to dine with the penguins around 
Punta Arenas before 6 P. M. However, with the 
aid of my own will power and some pressure brought 
to bear in high political places, the old " he-wop " 
decided to travel toward the center of the lake, away 
from the windfalls and weeds. 

" For twenty minutes the bass rehearsed every- 
thing he had learned in his own lifetime and the 
things he had learned from his father and mother 
before him. He cut under the boat and broke water 
twenty feet on the other side. He slipped to the 
bottom to rub the curious little minnow with the sting 
from his mouth. He backed away, doubled on his 
tracks like a red fox, flopped a foot out of water into 
the snow-swirl; and finally, after one of the gamest 
fights I have ever had or seen, gave up the battle 
and died like a true hero fighting to the death. 
Softly I reeled him in, and, as we had no landing 
net, my brother reached into the water and lifted him 
out. For a moment we looked at him quivering 
at the bottom of the boat, and instinctively we raised 
our hats to one of the gamest fish in the world." 

ARTIFICIAL WINS OVER LIVE BAIT 

Gerald C. Burd of Brooklyn while fishing in Lake 
Court O'rielles, Wisconsin, on a hot July day landed 



186 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

a fine 5-pound 2-ounce, small-mouth bass that gave 
an interesting account of itself. Following the usual 
dope Gerald first tried the game with live bait, but 
not being successful he switched to a Heddon's 
Dowagiac and on the third cast the big one struck — 
but here is the way Gerald tells it : 

" We had pulled across from our shack on the 
east shore of the lake and anchored in a small 
sheltered inlet. For a time I tried still fishing with 
live minnows, but with indifferent success, then 
changed tackle and began to cast. Twice I reeled 
in without result, and then a third time the bait 
arched through the air and struck the water with a 
splash. It was instantly followed by another splash 
which told me that there was a fine scrap ahead, for 
the instant I set the hook the big fellow broke water, 
standing on his tail and shaking his massive body 
until the hooks fairly rang against each other. 

" There was a long rush, followed by a still longer 
sulking spell from which I almost despaired of bring- 
ing him, but finally the strain ceased and he came 
very nicely to the boat. Then I made the mistake 
of attempting to net him too soon and the fight was 
renewed with vigor. 

" After seven or eight minutes which were full of 
thrills, he again came to the boat only to make a dive 
under it. I lowered the tip of my rod and let him 
go though, as I was afraid he was fast loosening the 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 187 

hook. But after a final leap and a rush he came in, 
golden side up in token of submission, and was easily 
netted." 

SPOON INTERESTS THIS MUSKY 

The muskellunge is as tricky a fish as you will find 
among the entire finny tribe and he isn't a bit bashful 
when it comes to taking advantage of the slightest 
opportunity to display his skill at parting company 
with the hook. For main strength he has no equal 
among the fresh-water fish, and with light tackle it 
takes keen work to land him. Judge H. T. Ames 
of Minocqua, Wisconsin, writes the following facts 
about the landing of a thirty-two pounder at which 
he officiated : 

" We had tried them out on the live minnows and 
frogs without even a swirl. It was some hot the 
afternoon of July 25 on Lake Mandaline, Minocqua, 
Wisconsin, where I landed this old fellow, and we 
did not blame the fish for lying low. We were 
making about two knots an hour, our spoons out 
about fifty feet, spinning in a nervous, flopping way 
caused by the irregular movement of the boat with 
its makeshift oarlocks. 

" The musky struck with a vicious dart, his dorsal 
fin cutting the water like that of a man-eater. I 
brought him to a right-about with a jerk of the rod 
and the main show opened up with a fine break from 



188 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

the water. Just then I changed seats with my part- 
ner and the old rascal took advantage of me and 
made a run with about fifty feet more of line, and 
then straight down to the bottom, which is a mass of 
weeds in Lake Mandaline. He rooted down under 
what seemed to be a ton of weeds as I cleared them 
off the line and worked him into the open water. I 
had him within fifteen yards of the boat when he 
made a leap of at least six feet up into the air and 
shook himself like an angry bull-pup, making the 
No. 7 Skinner spoon rattle like a telephone bell as it 
pounded a tattoo on his teeth. 

" As I took in the slack he made jump after jump 
out of the water and he darted and plunged in all 
kinds of figures trying to snag the line. It was a 
furious fight for nearly an hour before I could bring 
him to gaff. My pard made an honest effort to gaff 
the big fellow, but only succeeded in scraping his 
side, which livened him up for a spurt that tore fifty 
feet of line off my reel. I worked him alongside 
again and with the rod in the left hand gave him the 
gaff myself. 

" With one last effort for freedom he shook with 
force enough to break the gaff hook, but he dropped 
into the boat and I closed in on him for a little per- 
sonal embrace. I caught this musky with a No. 7 
Skinner spoon hook, a silk musky line and an old 
Bristol rod, that is really a veteran, and a much older 
and very dilapidated tournament casting reel." 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 189 

HATS OFF, MUSKY ON FLY ROD 

To land a musky on fly tackle, the most delicate 
of fishing equipment, is a job that probably only the 
most seasoned veteran would attempt. One slip in 
judging the moves of the musky or shooting on the 
thumb pressure at the wrong moment would mean 
a smashed rod. For an all-round thriller, V. 
Deane Reese of Columbus, Ohio, certainly staged a 
five-reeler when he hooked a fourteen-pound musky 
and played him for fifty minutes before he could 
bring him to gaff. Here is the story of this battle 
of light tackle vs. musky wile as told by the winner : 

" I always had a hankering to land a big fish, par- 
ticularly a musky, on a fly rod, but never anticipated 
one quite so large as the chap I'm writing you about. 
I was camping on No Man's Lake with my fishing 
partner, Dr. Okey, who handled the paddle during 
the fight. I had raised one musky, which probably 
weighed eight pounds, but evidently had not set the 
hook deep enough in his mouth, as he threw it the 
first jump out of the water. This gave me the tip 
to set it deeper next time, as the hook was very small 
and the musky has a tough mouth. 

" We paddled over to a shallow bar in the middle 
of the lake, and I started casting with a No. 2-O 
Buck-tail fly, fastened on a No. 1 Hildebrandt spin- 
ner, which was as large a lure as I was able to cast 
with the light fly rod. This big fish came out of the 



igo LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

weeds and took the fly just like a trout. I set the 
hook as firmly as I could and told the doctor to row 
out into the deep. 

MAKES A THREE FOOT BREAK 

" The musky leaped out of the water at least three 
feet and the fight was on. He continued to break 
water from time to time as I worked him in. To- 
ward the end, however, his efforts to rise from the 
water were mighty weak and he hardly raised his 
nose above the surface. He made two runs for the 
boat, and once I felt sure he would right angle my 
rod, which was a nine and a half footer, and snap it 
before we could get the boat around. 

" At times I held considerable arch to the rod, 
but gave him the tip quite a lot and worked the rod 
with the musky through most of the fight. At no 
time did I feel that I would lose him, but before the 
fifty minutes were over I was about as tired as the 
musky. 

" Early in the fight I felt a little shaky on the line 
question as I only had on about seventy-five feet, and 
when he started on his runs I had to put strong pres- 
sure on the line to get him out of the notion of going 
too far. My right thumb soon rubbed to the quick 
and I finished the fight with my left hand, in fact, it 
was necessary from time to time to change the rod, 
as my arm became tired. 

" Musky fishing with a six-ounce fly rod may not 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 191 

be a sport indulged in by many of the boys, but for 
a pack of tingling thrills and moments requiring 
quick thought give me a musky on the lightest of 
tackle." 

RIVER MUSKY FULL OF PEP 

The river musky seems to put up a gamer fight 
than one of equal size caught in lake waters. Es- 
pecially is this so when the river waters have a swift 
current. Every minute of his life the river musky 
has to fight the current in his hunt for food, and this 
daily battle against the swift waters gives him a won- 
derfully developed set of fins and a kick in his tail 
that compares favorably with the driving power of 
the off hind leg of an army mule. J. C. Knudtson 
of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, landed a 35-pound 
musky from the swirling white waters below the 
falls, and here are the facts about the thirty-minute 
nerve-tingling scrap : 

" All good things come my way on or about the 
20th of the month, and when this date stole around 
in August I slipped down to the Chippewa River one 
morning before daylight, armed to the teeth with 
tackle, for a shot at the famous green muskies that 
feed below the falls. I fished from shore, casting 
my Heddon's Dowagiac Wiggler out into the rapids 
and reeling it in across a mighty promising looking 
eddy. After a few unsuccessful efforts, which I 
chalked up to practice, I felt a mighty lunge that 



i 9 2 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

stiffened up my line and almost doubled my Bristol 
No. 25 which, by the way, is some light rod for a 
musky battle. Then a drive straight across the river 
that cut the line through the water with a zip. I 
let him take about seventy feet, then put on the 
brakes, when up out of the water he came with a 
sudden sharp jump that nearly caught me with a 
slack, and he did a shake I never thought a musky 
had in his body. He had probably been hooked be- 
fore, because he tried every trick I had ever heard 
a musky had in his system, from the corkscrew twist 
to the double jump, but he was hooked right, and I 
held him down under a stiff line. 

" Four times I almost had him to gaff against his 
wishes, but each time he gingered up and made an- 
other effort to break away. At last I played him 
out and brought him in white side up and I was sure 
proud as I slipped my fingers under his gills and 
lifted him ashore, a fine specimen of the gamest of 
muskies, the famous dark green musky of the * old 
Chippewa.' " 

LANDS BIG PIKE ON WEAK LINE 

The pike, so commonly called pickerel by many 
fishermen, is a close relation to the musky and al- 
though he doesn't make the spectacular fight that 
his husky cousin does, he can give a good account of 
himself. When hooked in the cooler waters in the 
fall, he has an added bunch of pep that places him 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 193 

right up in the game class. Theodore Nordholm of 
Chicago landed a 23-pound pike early in October on 
a line that tested -out at eight and a half pounds at 
the break, which is sure some fishing and stacks up 
well with the clever work of the cotton thread 
anglers of Long Island. The " how " of landing 
this large pike is modestly told by Theodore: 

" We sure struck it cold for our fishing trip to 
Gillette Lake, at Mountain, Wisconsin. It was a 
blustery and rainy day with snow flurries and my pal 
and I were loafing around the cabin trying to keep 
warm. But the fishing fever had us and we decided 
to take a flyer around the lake. 

" Striking a nice bunch of lily pads, I warmed up 
with a few casts in among 'em. The fourth throw 
of my Jamison Mascot brought a strike that sure 
had weight behind it, but I only held him a few sec- 
onds before he broke away. I must have scared him 
a bit, because repeated casts failed to interest him, 
so we went around the lake. 

" I could not get that old man out of my mind, 
however, and I knew he was a big one from the pull 
he handed me the few moments I had him hooked. 
I insisted on giving him another chance, so we let 
the boat drift in to the spot where I had lost him. 

STRIKES WITH A PUNCH 

" I made a cast in where I thought he ought 
to be and sure enough he landed with both feet. 



194 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

I struck him hard and set the hooks to stay. This 
annoyed him some, because he made a bee line 
for the deep water on a straight run of about sixty 
feet before I put on the thumb. He passed so close 
to the boat that I saw his size and knew my work 
was cut out for me because I had a No. 5 Jamison 
line with which I had been casting several days and 
no gaff or gun to land him with. 

" You cannot take chances with a line that has 
become worn with steady casting, so we followed 
him around for about thirty minutes, giving him line 
when he wanted it and taking her in when possible. 
I was unable to get the pike close enough to land 
him, so one of the boys at the camp paddled out and 
as I brought the fish to the surface he slipped his 
hands under his gills and lifted him into the canoe. 
The fight had been enough for him at that and he 
laid there without much pep. 

" Here's a little dope for the wise ones who take 
a slap at the pike. If you get them from a cold 
spring-fed lake, they put up a game fight and if you 
want some good sport land a large one on a line that 
tests out at eight and one-half pounds. That is what 
my line tested after the fight, and you can take it 
straight, this old bird put up a fight." 

THIS PIKE GETS AWAY, BUT — 

The fish that gets away is always the largest, but 
here is a 12-pound pike that got away and, after an 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 195 

hour's liberty, the line was located and the old pike 
successfully landed. Bill Kuss of Chicago who lost 
and found this rascal tells the story in this way : 

" Early in July, while making the rounds of some 
of our smaller lakes just northwest of Chicago, I 
stopped at Wooster Lake, one mile directly west of 
Long Lake station. 

" There was a thick layer of ' shredded wheat ' 
moss running about 300 yards from the shore into 
the lake, and just outside of this moss the water was 
quite deep, about thirty feet. As there was no wind 
I had no trouble in finding out at once that there 
was a slight current, and, in fact, this entire end of 
the lake was moving. 

" I had confidence in this moving water, although 
it was terribly muddy, and within half an hour I 
landed three fair sized bass and had a number of 
' strikes.' Then I got a ' strike ' that for a moment 
took my breath away. I set my hook deep into that 
fellow and he started off like a shot straight for the 
moss bank. My thirty-three yards of No. 6 was 
nearly all out when he struck and there was only a 
little left to hold him with, but it didn't seem to make 
any difference, for there was no holding him in, as 
he kept on going. 

LINE SNAPS — PIKE HEADS TO WEEDS 

" Yes, the line snapped at the reel. There being 
no wind and the water as smooth as glass I could 



ig6 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

plainly see the 'V shaped wake heading for the 
moss near shore. Strangely, for some reason I 
followed this wake to the moss and here found a 
spot where I could see the water ' bubbling ' and, at 
once came to the conclusion, that Mr. Pike must be 
close at hand. I also knew Mr. Pike had all of my 
line dangling behind him, and as I was determined 
to recover that line a few moments of careful drag- 
ging located it and soon I had it on my reel again. 
It seemed to me about an hour's careful work trying 
to locate my fish when all of a sudden he started out 
again and I am still figuring how he ever got out 
of that bed of moss without breaking my line. As 
soon as he found he was free he made a sudden dart 
for open water and here is where I decided to end 
all this in short order, for out in deep water with 
plenty of line to play him and an abundance of re- 
newed confidence it was merely a case of ' come to 
daddy.' 

" The strangest part of it was that at no time 
during our game of ' hide and seek ' did I get a 
glimpse of him, not until I was ready to tickle him 
behind his gills with my hand and lift him into the 
boat. I was almost certain I had a musky all the 
time, but I really felt satisfied when I found he was 
only a pike, considering how. I hooked him, then lost 
him, again recovered him, and finally ' brought home 
the bacon.' " Not so bad for Bill to land him after 
his getaway. 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 197 

FISHES DEEP ON HOT DAY 

The pike, like the bass, hunts the cool waters dur- 
ing the hot weather, and you have to send your bait 
to him to create enough interest to excite a strike. 
Clarence J. Vogt of Chicago, used this method to 
tease a fifteen and three-quarter pound pike to hit 
the bait on a hot July day, and here is the story : 

" I caught this husky beggar casting off Indian 
Point in Fox Lake, Illinois. You may recall that it 
was a trifle hot last Saturday, being 92 in the shade, 
so I let my Stanley fly with spinner, baited with a 
nice enticing pork strip, go down fairly deep in order 
to get to the fish, which were hunting the cool places 
in the deeper water. This pike sure must have been 
hungry or sore, because he struck the bait like a ten- 
strike. Not having a gaff or landing net, I played 
him for fifteen minutes, till he showed white, then I 
brought him close up to the boat and slipped my 
fingers under his gills. Did I land him then? 
Well, I guess not; he livened up in a second and 
started another five-minute tussle for a getaway, 
which failed to make good, for I used a little more 
speed on the grab when I had him to the boat the 
second time." 

Letting the bait go down to him is what ended the 
career of a 12-pound pike. Sidney A. Hand of 
Chicago just sort of carelessly let his bait settle a 
bit and the answer was that the pike had a chance 



ig8 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

to see it and struck. The fish are generally willing 
to do their part, if the fisherman goes half way and 
lets 'em see the lure. Here's how Sidney explains 
it: 

" I was throwing a small perch out towards the 
edge of a fine weedy spot in Long Lake, trying to 
entice the lazy pike up out of the deep. I got sort 
of careless about reeling in, after failing for some 
time to get a strike, and had let my bait settle through 
stopping the reel, when this old man hit that perch 
bait like an elephant. 

" I fought him to the limit, but he made the weeds 
before I could recover my wits and had a nice run 
of seventy-five feet of line down among them. I 
followed him up as fast as I could and it was some 
job getting to him through the mass of weeds, but 
I got him, which was my object in going fishing." 

THE WALL-EYE FOOLS 'EM 

The wall-eyed pike is by nature a bottom fish and 
it seems they take keen pleasure in staying there. 
Even when about to be landed the wall-eye always 
makes a few runs down to the bottom after being 
brought up alongside of the boat. Another queer 
thing about this old boy is the fact that a strike of 
a large-sized one is generally taken for a snag. Of 
sixteen wall-eye weighing from nine pounds up to 
fourteen that came under my notice one season, ten 
were hooked and the ten fishermen all thought they 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 199 

had snagged their lines, but, of course, found out 
very promptly that they had another guess. Here 
is the record of a 12^-pound wall-eyed pike caught 
in Black Lake, McNaughton, Wisconsin, by Robert 
H. Moulton, of Chicago : 

" I was rowing along in a lazy sort of way, just 
about moving, my thoughts on a nice fried bass with 
a well-turned flapjack when I made camp. I had a 
line out trolling along, which is a habit I have of 
always keeping a line in the water for luck, when 
the reel began its love song. I had visions of losing 
my favorite dowagiac, a Heddons underwater min- 
now, green back with white belly, thinking that I had 
snagged, so I gave the line a good jerk to loosen 
her up. 

RECOGNIZES THE WALL-EYE'S FIGHT 

" That old jerk sure wised me up to the fact that 
I had a whopper on the off end of the line. It 
didn't take long to figure out that he was a wall-eye 
because he started off with a series of jerks and tugs 
that would have done credit to a bull pup. It took 
me about eight minutes to work the seventy feet of 
line away from him and bring him to the side, but 
not for the gaff, as he made four runs to the bottom 
after as many trips to the boat side, and each reeling 
in was harder than the preceding one. 

" It was one continuous bunch of short pulls inter- 
spersed with straight long rushes to the bottom, and 



200 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

when at last I felt safe to give him the gaff and 
raised him into the boat, I certainly knew I had as 
fine a wall-eyed pike as a fellow ever hopes to coax 
out of the home waters." 

The wall-eyed pike is not a showy fighter and 
doesn't have the rapid fire action of the basses or 
musky, but at that he is no mean antagonist. A 
fairly large-sized one has strong action and he in- 
jects enough tug and pull into his fight to satisfy any 
but the most jaded of fishermen. Even so, to hook 
a wall-eye and play him to the net is a nice, clean 
piece of sport. You have to handle them carefully 
and not try to bring them to the net too speedily or 
you will lose your fish. The strike of the large 
wall-eyed pike is the unexpected of the fishing game 
and E. C. Myers of Chicago lines up the following 
as the final efforts of a 1 1 34 -pound beauty he landed: 

MID-DAY BEAUTY FIGHTS DEEP 

" On August 17th, when I landed a wall-eyed 
pike that weighed nj4 pounds, I was fishing for 
bass on Black Lake, McNaughton, Wisconsin, and 
was alone in my boat, with neither gaff nor landing 
net. 

" All morning I had been having little luck and 
few bites. It was after lunch time when I decided 
to quit and return to the camp. No sooner had I 
put away my rod and grasped the oars than I no- 
ticed a swirling of water and saw a sucker about 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 201 

twelve to fourteen inches long flopping in a death 
struggle, for he had been struck by a big fish. I 
immediately unlimbered my rod, selecting as bait a 
Hildebrandt Double Spinner and a large minnow. 
Then I pushed back against the wind into the bay, 
so as to float down the current, and started to cast 
among the weeds along the shore. 

A HARD DEEP WATER FIGHT 

" Just as I got near the end of the bay and was 
turning the boat, I got a heavy strike. I immedi- 
ately set the hook and then the trouble commenced. 
It was fully ten minutes before I was able to see what 
I had on my hook. He fought hard, keeping deep 
in the water all the time, and as the boat was drift- 
ing out into deep water, and having no one to handle 
the boat, I took my time about landing Mr. Wall- 
Eye. 

" Finally, he began to tire. His plunges became 
less and less vigorous, and I was able each time to 
bring him closer to the boat. Without gaff or land- 
ing net, I was compelled to prolong the fight until 
my opponent was completely exhausted. When at 
last he was ' all in,' I brought him alongside the 
boat, slipped my right hand under the center of his 
body, and, with the leader and line loose in my left 
hand, gently lifted the big beauty into the boat. 
Then I sat and gazed in amazement, entirely for- 
getting my hunger and wet feet in contemplation of 
my eleven and one-quarter pound pike." 



202 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 
HOT WEATHER BEST FOR WALL-EYE 

July and August, the hot weather months, are the 
best months of the fishing season for the wall-eye 
and the big majority of the large ones have been 
caught at this time. We can therefore thank his 
honor for being on the feed during a period when 
the other game fish are sluggish and mighty par- 
ticular about their appetite. And it seems also that 
he is at his best during the midday fishing, while the 
basses and musky are in their best fettle in the early 
morning and late evening hours of the hot weather. 
Emil Faber of Chicago landed a nine-pound wall- 
eyed pike on July 5th at Potato Lake, Wisconsin, 
and of the actions of this hot-weather rascal he has 
this to say: 

11 After a few hours' trolling for musky, without 
much success, we secured a supply of chub and shiner 
minnows from a nearby creek and started casting. 
It was about mid-day and a real July day, with an 
outlook for a slim stringer. On my first cast, a toss 
of about 90 feet in towards shore, straight for the 
mouth of the small creek, I had let my bait go down 
and on reeling in my hook, thought I was snagged. 
I was about ready to begin cussin' my luck when 
the supposed log on which I thought I was snagged 
became very much alive, and I set the hooks for 
keeps. 



FROM STRIKE TO GAFF 203 

FIGHTS LONG AND STEADY 

" By the time my fishing partner could get his line 
in and assist at the oars, my fish was making the 
water fairly boil, the line cutting through the water 
as he made a run with it. It was ten minutes before 
we even got a glimpse of him. Three times I tried 
to bring him up to the side and each time he plunged 
down again into the deep and between times he kept 
a continual series of jerks and pulls that made the 
rod spring like a whip. On the fourth trip up, after 
twenty minutes of careful work, I succeeded in get- 
ting him close enough to put the landing net to its 
proper use. 

" For a piece of nice sport a large-sized wall-eyed 
pike is good fishing, his steady pulling and tugging 
keeping you aware of the fact that you have a lively 
customer, and he is lively up to the last minute, 
too." 



ONE HUNDRED QUESTIONS AND 
ANSWERS 

As fishing editor of the Chicago Herald and the 
National Sportsman Magazine, I have had the 
pleasure of answering many thousand questions on 
fish, fishing, tackle and outing equipment. Also my 
series of articles on fishing running under the head 
of " Rod and Reel," in over forty of the lead- 
ing metropolitan daily newspapers of the East and 
West have brought many queries to my desk. I 
have selected one hundred of these questions which 
I think will prove interesting to the reader. All of 
these questions have been answered either from my 
own actual experiences or from the experiences of 
other fishermen, and I feel sure that many little 
points that have been a trifle cloudy can be cleared 
up through these queries. 

Question. What is the best spoon to use for 
trolling for grass pike? — Doc. 

Answer. Try a No. 3 Tandem Slim Eli or a 
No. 6 Skinner Spoon with single hook and pork rind. 
The Sutton Spoon hook made in Naples, N. Y., is 
a fine pike lure. On bright day in clear water use a 

204 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 205 

copper spoon, cloudy day or rough water use a brass 
or nickel spoon. Keep it moving and use a Dipsey 
sinker to take it down deep. 

Question. How do you get helgramite for bait, 
and are they good bait for bass ? — K. M. D. 

Answer. The helgramite is a fine bait for bass. 
You will find them under stones in streams. Hold 
a minnow net below the stone, turn the stone over, 
and the current will wash the helgramite into the 
net. They double up into a ball, and the current 
carries them downstream when dislodged from the 
under side of stones. To hook them start the hook 
under the hard shell near the head and out the other 
end. 

Question. What kind of bait do you recom- 
mend for pickerel in August? Is there a trap for 
catching crawfish? How do you catch crawfish for 
bait? — H. H. 

Answer. A No. 3 spoon with a minnow, shiner 
or pork rind makes good pickerel bait. I know of 
no trap for catching crawfish. You can find them 
around rocky shores in the sand and under stones. 
They crawl under the sand and raise a little sand 
hump. Dig them out; you can get them in an old 
landing net; place it behind them, and they'll back 
in. Try the outlet of a lake and the mud bottoms 
close to shore. 



2o6 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

Question. What is a good lure for wall-eyed 
pike, how is the best way to fish for them and the 
best time of day? — W. A. G. 

Answer. Try any bass lure, plug or spoon, also 
a fair sized minnow on an Archer spinner makes a 
good bait. Troll for them, letting bait down close 
to the bottom, troll slowly. Early morning, mid- 
day, and late afternoon. 

Question. Which is the correct way to use 
pork rind for bass, and is it a good lure ? — J. J. T. 

Answer. Pork rind can be cut in long slim 
strips, V-shaped, about three and one-half inches 
long, also in wedge shape about one and one-half 
inches square, three-fourths inch thick at one side, 
tapered to about one-half inch. Tie a piece of red 
yarn around the large ends, use it on most any hook, 
plain or spooned. It is a good lure, and used gen- 
erally. Very good early in the season and at the 
tail end. You can get it bottled all ready for use 
if you do not care to cut it. 

Question. Will you please tell me a way to 
keep fishworms or angleworms? — C. S. P. 

Answer. Fill a porous crock with grass, moss 
or leaves. Sprinkle with water and put in the 
worms. Let them alone for a day or so, then feed 
them the white of a hard-boiled egg, or a spoonful 
of cream. This will liven them up and they will 
have a clean, pinkish color very attractive to fish. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 207 

Don't put them in a can or smother them in dirt or 
mud. 

Question. What are a few good bass flies? — 

C. L. L. 

Answer. Try Royal Coachman, Silver Doctor, 
Paramanchee Belle, Montreal, Gray Hackle, Brown 
Hackle, Reuben Wood, Queen of the Waters, 
Professor, Red Ibis and Grizzly King. 

Question. What is the best time for bass fish- 
ing on streams and best time for fly casting for bass; 
also does fly casting for bass take more care than 
bait casting? — G. L. K. 

Answer. Early morning best on smaller 
streams, later part of day till sundown very good. 
Cloudy days, midday good, especially if cool. For 
fly fishing for bass early morning hours and an hour 
before dark best time; if full moon, even later gets 
the big ones. More caution required in fly fishing 
for bass than trout. 

Question. What kind of rod would you suggest 
for bass fly casting, also line for river work? — 

D. M. 

Answer. Split bamboo an ounce or so heavier 
than rod for casting for trout and plenty of stiff 
backbone; 25 yards of waterproofed enameled silk 
line level or tapered size E. 



208 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

Question. How far will a bass carry a live bait 
before swallowing it? — B. G. K. 

Answer. There is no set rule to go by; they may 
take the bait and run off 10 to 15 yards and again 
they may make it 75 or a hundred. Let them have 
the line after they strike; then all you do is wait till 
they stop to gorge the minnow before striking. 

Question. What is a good book on the habits 
of the bass? — A. 

Answer. " Book of the Black Bass," by James 
A. Henshall is an excellent authority on the bass. 

Question. What minnows make good bass 
bait? — P. D. Q. 

Answer. There are many species and varieties 
of minnows used as bass bait, many having local 
names. Among the best are chub, shiner, dace, 
silver minnow, gold shiner, darter and mud minnow- 
Black bass seem to have a special fancy for live bait 
brought from other than their home waters. 

Question. Kindly give me a table of the ap- 
proximate length and weight of bass? — H. J. B. 

Answer. Following is table for weight of bass : 
9 inches, 1 pound; 10 inches, 1 pound 2 ounces; 11 
inches, 1 pound 6 ounces; 12 inches, 2 pounds; 14 
inches, 3 pounds; 15 inches, 4 pounds. 

Question. Last season I caught a 14-inch black 
bass, had no scales. What was the weight? — A. V. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 209 

Answer. According to schedule this bass should 
have weighed three pounds. 

Question. In fly-casting for bass what shade of 
fly is best on a cloudy day and also on bright days? 
— C. S. P. 

Answer. ( 1 ) Use bright and light colored flies 
on cloudy days; also in high or rough water. (2) 
On bright days in clear or low water use a smaller 
fly of subdued or dark color. By all means try out 
fly-casting for bass. It's great — early season best, 
next comes tail end of season. Try river casting 
any time during season, fine sport. 

Question. Where can I get the Keeling Expert 
underwater minnow and has the spoon got it all over 
the other baits for trolling for bass and pike? — 
C. O. J. 

Answer. Fred C. Keeling, Rockford, Illinois, 
makes the Keeling Expert and it is a fine underwater 
lure for bass, especially in the hot weather when they 
are down deep. The spoon hook used tandem in the 
smaller sizes, say two or three ; or four to six in the 
larger size for pike, pickerel and musky makes a 
killer and can be used with plain treble hooks, feath- 
ered treble, flyed hook, pork rind, or minnow and 
it is a bait many fellows swear by. It can be used 
to advantage most any time for trolling and the small 
single makes a good casting spoon with minnow, 
frog or pork rind. 



210 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

Question. Is the fall fishing for bass good? — 
H. B. 

Answer. Fall bass fishing is generally fine; in 
fact, you will find no better time than during what is 
termed Indian summer. The bass are full of ginger 
and fight to a fare-you-well. They take the fly 
readily at that time and the artificial plugs come into 
their own after a midsummer layoff. Both stream 
and lake fishing are good. 

Question. What are some of the names applied 
to the large-mouth bass? 

Answer. Oswego bass, jumper, mossback; in 
the South he is called trout, in North Carolina, chub ; 
in Alabama, mountain trout; and a pet name is 
bronze-backer. 

Question. I have heard the stone cat is a good 
bass bait; how about it? — W. W. 

Answer. Small stone cat and his cousin, known 
as mad toms, make fine bait. Found in shallow 
water in running streams of lakes, under rocks or 
logs. Three to four inches makes fine bait. 

Question. In " Fly-Casting for Bass " you say 
" the nearer the water you are the less chance the 
fish have of seeing you "; how do you explain this? 
— J.M.B. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 211 

Answer. The closer an object is to the water 
the less chance a fish has to see it, particularly if the 
fish be 30 or 40 feet away, as in wading. One can 
be seen more easily by a fish if elevated above the 
water, as on a bank or raised shore. Often you can 
see the bass at some distance from the shore, but 
seldom while wading. If you were 20 feet above 
the water the fish for a radius of 60 or 70 feet could 
see you. Of course fish close up could see you at 
any time, but you seldom land those on the fly. 

Question. Do you find both the small-mouth 
and large-mouth bass in the same lakes? — F. S. 

Answer. Not as a general thing; when you do, 
the small-mouth will be found on the rocky bars, 
near the spring holes at the outlet or inlet; if there 
is a little current there, on the gravel bars ; while the 
large-mouth prefers the weedy bays, the lily pads 
and rushes and where the bottom is soft. 

Question. What is the best method of retriev- 
ing the fly in casting for bass? — F. L. 

Answer. Let the fly float a bit with the current, 
then sink a little and retrieve with short, jerky mo- 
tion. I like to give it a few little pulls, then let the 
fly stop a couple of seconds, when it sinks a little 
more then continue the jerking pull. It is well to 
cast over the same waters if you don't get a strike 



212 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

the first time. Two or three casts over the same 
waters should get a strike; if not, swing to other 
waters. 

Question. Are frogs good still-fishing bait for 
bass? — G. H. 

Answer. Use the smaller sized frogs for still 
fishing, and keep them in motion; they have a habit 
of burying themselves in the mud or under stones on 
the bottom; also crawl out on a windfall and watch 
you hold the rod. Hook them through the lips or 
through the skin of the back. Minnows make a 
better still-fishing bait. 

Question. Is the grasshopper a bass bait, and 
how do you fish it? — Ken. 

Answer. At times the grasshopper makes a 
good bait, particularly on streams, or along the 
shore of lakes. I use it entirely as a surface bait. 
With a fair wind blowing the hoppers into the 
water, get to the windward side of the water and 
cast your bait lightly on the water and let the wind 
carry it on the surface. The roughening of the 
water by the wind adds to your chances of attracting 
the fish without being seen. Use a small hook and 
run it through the upper part of the body. 

Question. What is the difference between a 
bait-casting reel and fly-casting reel? — McQ. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 213 

Answer. The fly-casting reel is single action, 
the spool turning each time with the handle, while 
the bait-casting reel is quadruple-multiplying, the 
spool making four turns to one of the handle. This 
is for speed in casting and reeling in with limited 
work of the hands, while the reel for the fly-caster 
merely is a storage place for line. 

Question. What do you think of the Shake- 
speare Standard Professional reel and do you think 
the level winding affair on the level winders of any 
value? — T. M. B. 

Answer. The Standard Professional is a fine 
reel and a low priced one; it will stand up under 
hard usage and last a long time if given a little care. 
The level-winding arrangement on the Shakespeare 
reels is successful and quite an aid to the reel in its 
work. 

Question. How often should a reel be oiled? 
— M. M.S. 

Answer. Oil your reel every day if used for 
bait casting. Don't drown it with oil, a drop at each 
bearing is plenty and all surplus oil should be wiped 
off as it collects dust and sand. 

Question. What do you think of the Beetzel 
Reel; is it half as good as claimed? — Hal. J. 
Answer. The Beetzel Reel is a wonderful tool. 



214 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

Besides being a sure-enough anti-backlasher it also 
is a level-winder and being hand-made is a reel that 
will last a lifetime if given care. It sets you back 
$20, but your reel troubles are a thing of the past 
and it does everything but " clean the fish for the 
spider." Seventy-three orders were ahead of me 
when I got mine and I think that speaks some for it. 

Question. Will you tell me about Antiback- 
lash reels? Are they reliable and what are some 
good ones? 

Answer. The Antiback-lash reels are O. K. and 
for the fellow who cannot give much time to prac- 
tice of thumbing the ordinary reel are a life-saver. 
The South Bend Antiback-lash and the Pflueger- 
Redifor Antiback-lash are both good, well made 
reels. They are very good for night and moon- 
light casting also. 

Question. What are good salmon flies? And 
what is the usual length of a salmon rod? — D. K. 

Answer. Try these: Silver Doctor, Jock Scott, 
Silver Gray, Durham Ranger, Dusty Miller and 
Black Fairy. Salmon rods are generally 15 feet in 
length, are built with double hand grips as both 
hands are used in casting. 

Question. What are a couple good artificial 
plugs for river bait casting? — W. H. B. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 215 

Answer. I find the Coaxer, Tango, Jr., all 
white with red top, Heddon's Baby Crab Wiggler, 
Wilson Wobbler, rainbow color, and the Bass- 
areno, white with red head, very good river baits. 

Question. What is the simplest method of 
tying a leader to the eyed fly. I am starting with 
the eyed flies this season? — B. M. 

Answer. Try the " jam knot." To attach a fly 
in this way, pass the end of the leader through the 
eye of the hook toward the bend of the hook, bend 
back this end along the main strand of the leader 
and tie a half hitch around the main strand without 
drawing tight, slip the half hitch loop along and 
down the leader and just over the eye of the hook, 
then pull tight. 

Question. How shall I go about fishing for 
Lake Trout? I fish a lake which has been stocked 
for seven years and they won't rise to anything. — 
P. G. 

Answer. Go down after them, Old Man, go way 
down. Here is a rig; take an eight-ounce sinker, 
cone-shaped, and tie it to your reel line with a piece 
of old line about three feet long. Use old line so 
it will break if snagged on the bottom and you lose 
only the sinker. Then take three pieces of good 
line and swivel them to your reel line, the first right 
above the sinker line connection and the next a foot 



216 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

above that and the last one a foot higher. Let this 
down till you make bottom, and troll very slow, first, 
of course, having baited with a nice shiner or large 
minnow on each hook at the end of each of the three 
pieces of line. This is about the best lake trout rig. 
If you wish you can use plaited copper wire line 
which sinks better than ordinary line but this will 
probably not be necessary for the fish in your lake. 

Question. Are there any grayling left, and if 
so, where are they, and when is the fishing season? 
— S.K.N. 

Answer. About the only grayling fishing is in 
Montana in the tributaries of the Missouri River 
above the great falls; in the Sheep and Tenderfoot 
tributaries of the Smith River and the upper end of 
the Madison River tributaries at the head of Red 
Rock Lake, where the water is rapid and compara- 
tively smooth. Also in Beaver Greek. Best sea- 
son, September, October and November. 

Question. What is the average-sized hook used 
on a trout fly? — G. H. 

Answer. Flies tied to a No. 8 hook are average ; 
have your main selection on this sized hook with a 
few of the best patterns on larger and smaller ones 
for unusual conditions. 

Question. What is the approximate weight of 
brook trout as to length? — G. G. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 217 

Answer. Eight-inch trout weighs 4 ounces; 9- 
inch, 6 ounces; 10-inch, 7 ounces; 11-inch, 9 ounces; 
12-inch, 1 pound; 15-inch, pound and a half; 18-inch, 
iy 2 pounds. 

Question. Can you tell me where I can get a 
" Whaling Good " rod, and can you recommend it 
for bait casting? — P. L. M. 

Answer. The Whaling rods are made by G. E. 
Whaling & Son Co., of Cleveland, Ohio, and are 
hand made under the direct supervision of Dad 
Whaling who has been making rods for ages and 
making good rods at that. Each rod is raised a 
pet and has more care than you could imagine would 
be given to a piece of wood in its travels through 
the rod-making game. You can get a Whaling rod 
for either bait-casting or fly-casting and it will be a 
piece of tackle you'll never part with. 

Question. Have you ever used the Foss pork 
rind minnow and what is it good for? — H. G. 

Answer. The Foss pork rind minnow is a new 
bait that has made good with a wallop. It has a 
single hook, upright, and you clamp in a piece of 
pork rind, the spinner on front and the peculiar mo- 
tion of the bait makes a mighty luring appearance 
to a hungry bass, or in fact any old bass. It is good 
for bass, pike, musky, pickerel, and with a couple of 
split-shot sinkers makes a good lure for wall-eyes. 



218 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

Question. Is there much use in fishing for trout 
when the stream is in a rising condition from spring 
thaws and the water muddy? — R. E. B. 

Answer. No, trout are sluggish then, show little 
spirit. As water clears in early season they will 
take bait. This is the most successful way of fishing 
for them at this time, they are ground feeding and 
slow to rise to fly; however, try a Silver Doctor, or 
other brilliantly colored fly. 

Question. Is there such a fish as the " tiger " 
musky? — K. H. 

Answer. The commonly called " tiger " musky 
is the striped species of the unspotted musky. Al- 
though some of our best piscatorial authorities who 
are acquainted with most fish by their Latin names 
have little to say about the tiger. Personally I 
watched a 2 7 y 2 -pound tiger do his death dance this 
fall, and he was as pretty a marked fish as you will 
find in a few days' paddle. He was a short, stocky 
rascal of a silver greenish tint, running into a gray- 
ish white underneath, and each brownish stripe was 
a perfect mark. There sure is such a critter, and he 
fights to a fare-you-well. 

Question. Have you ever used mice for bass 
bait, and are they good for bass? — A. J. S. 

Answer. Never used one, Old Man; heard of 
lots of people that have done so, but I never had the 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 219 

nerve to hook a mouse on as a bait. They have been 
very successful as a lure for large bass. 

Question. How does a musky strike a lure and 
where is the best location in a lake or stream for 
them? — D. W. 

Answer. Musky strikes from side and with an 
upward swing, often breaking water at the strike. 
In lakes you find him over submerged weed beds and 
rocky gravel bottoms and off the edges of weed beds 
in water generally from 5 up to 15 feet. In streams 
near bunches of weed and rushes, windfalls, logs, 
heaps of brush, sloughs alongside of rocks and off 
the points. 

Question. Why do fish turn a live bait around 
and swallow it head first? — T. J. S. 

Answer. Never really found out the real rea- 
son, Old Man, but presume they do it from instinct 
in order to save themselves from the sharp spines 
on some of the other fish. By swallowing them 
head first, the spines in the dorsal fin close down and 
don't prick them on the way down. 

Question. Are the preserved minnows in jars 
any good for bait? — R. H. C. 

Answer. The preserved minnows make a good 
bait for casting; they hold their silvery shine very 
well and for emergency you should have a bottle 



220 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

along. In casting very few minnows live over three 
or four casts of the average bait-caster; the only- 
thing necessary with a dead minnow is to keep it in 
motion. I have found preserved minnows good 
bait for wall-eyed pike as well as bass and trout. 

Question. Off and on I take short canoe trips 
during the summer and fall ; do you think a Comfort 
Sleeping Pocket has any advantages over the ordi- 
nary sleeping bags for trips of this kind? — S. O. S. 

Answer. No doubt you refer to the Comfort 
Sleeping Pocket made by the Athol Manufacturing 
Company, Athol, Massachusetts. This sleeping 
pocket is so far ahead of the old time sleeping bags 
that there is absolutely no comparison. The air 
mattress is sure a joy-bed and it makes a pile of rocks 
feel like eider-down. It opens down the entire side 
and is easily aired, at the same time it does not sweat- 
up when in use which is often the case with old style 
sleeping bags. With this sleeping pocket you will 
need no tent as it is covered with balloon silk and has 
a flap at the head that can be rigged up as a tent 
cover. I carry a Feather-weight No. 2 which 
weighs 14 pounds and sleep in any kind of weather 
just as comfy as in my four-poster. For down- 
right solid comfort and a handy piece of out-door 
equipment, place your bet on the Comfort Sleeping 
Pocket. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 221 

Question. How about the Sportsman's Compac 
Tent; will it fill the bill for camp and trail use? — 
Vic. C. 

Answer. The Sportsman's Compac Tent is sure 
a little wonder, and if you are going light and right 
it is certainly a fine and handy tent. You can erect 
it in a minute with or without poles. I prefer it 
without, simply throwing a light rope over a limb 
and pulling it taut. It is water, bug and snakeproof 
and has screened ventilators in both ends that pre- 
vent mildew, one of the draw-backs to most water- 
proof tents. It only weighs ^H pounds and rolls 
up into a snug pacakge that can be packed with ease. 
It sleeps two, and for the canoe trip or hike it is 
surely a light, handy, well-made outer's tent. 

Question. Can I use a spoon hook for casting? 
— D. H. 

Answer. Yes, if your bait is not heavy enough 
to give you a fair cast put on a small dipsey sinker. 
A good spoon with pork rind and a dipsey for weight 
make a fine casting bait. 

Question. How is the Meisselbach Automatic 
reel for casting and trolling? How is the Tango 
minnow for bass and pickerel, and what other min- 
nows have you had luck with? — C. B. 

Answer. The Meisselbach Automatic is very 



222 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

good for trolling and for fly-casting, but is not made 
for bait-casting; you need a quadruple-multiplying 
reel for this. Meisselbach Take-a-part at $5.50 is a 
good one. The Tango Minnow is a fine lure; try 
the white with red top, all red, and the yellow with 
mottled green back. For small-mouth the Tango, 
Jr., is good. Other baits I find successful are Jami- 
son Coaxer, Wilson Wobbler, white with red flutes; 
South Bend Bass-oreno, white with red head; Hed- 
don's Crab Wiggler; Jim Dandy, spotted green; 
Pflueger-Surprise, Perch color. But keep 'em mov- 
ing in the water. 

Question, (i) Should I reel my bait in fast 
after a cast? (2) What is the right distance for an 
average cast? — J. K. 

Answer. ( 1 ) Reel in slow for about five feet, 
then fast. The faster the better — just that much 
sooner do you get another cast out, and when fishing 
you must cast as often as possible. (2) Fifty feet 
is as good a cast as you will want to make. Trying 
to throw the bait to center field merely causes back 
lashes, which mean lost time. 

Question. What color of artificial baits is best 
early in the bass season? — A. J. B. 

Answer. I have had the best luck with white 
body and red heads, also all red and all white. Try 
out these, then all green, green and white, and rain- 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 223 

bow. Bass take most any color in the early fishing; 
seem to strike from pure cussedness. 

Question. Does the splash of an artificial bait 
scare the fish? — W. E. 

Answer. No, it will attract the fish rather than 
scare it. 

Question. What do you think of the Senter- 
Brade line for casting? — T. F. G. 

Answer. No doubt you refer to Senter-Brade 
Silk casting line No. 018 ; if so, this is a fine line for 
bass casting. It is braided around an independent 
core and works very well on the reel. 

Question. Is a 10-pound test line strong enough 
for muskies ? — J. C. 

Answer. With skill in handling your tackle a 
10-pound line is strong enough for muskies, but I 
suggest that you use a 16- or 18-pound test bass line, 
and at that don't try to force the fish to gaff too fast. 
That's when the line goes. 

Question. My split-bamboo rod has come apart 
from being wet; what is a good glue to use and how 
shall I go about regluing it? — C. W. B. 

Answer. A good glue to use is ordinary Le- 
Page's, or better still take the white flake glue used 
by pattern-makers and heat it yourself. Clean the 
bamboo strips of all old glue. Use a piece of broken 



224 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

glass, then reglue the rod tying it together until it 
dries. Rewind with silk as you wish and varnish, 
using good varnish and letting it dry between coats. 
Before varnishing you will, of course, scrape the 
outer side of the rod. 

Question. What is a good cement for ferrules? 
— D. L. 

Answer. Dodge's cement is most generally used 
and it is good stuff. 

Question. What do you think of the Heddon's 
rod for bait casting? — W. M. 

Answer. The Heddon's rod is made on the 
long-tip, short-butt construction, and is a fine fishing 
tool. The strain is not on the ferrule in landing a 
fish, as the two-piece make with the short butt brings 
the ferrule well below the center of the rod, where 
the bend comes, and that is where the break would 
come. It is far preferable to the three-piece split 
bamboos. You can get them from $2 up to $15 
and all good values. 

Question. How can I take a " set " out of my 
fly rod? — R. J. V. 

Answer. If the warp or set is in the entire rod, 
hang it up by the tip with a weight attached to the 
butt. If the set is only in one joint hang it up with 
weight on the end of the warped joint. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 225 

Question. Can I use an ordinary No. 25 Bristol 
steel rod for trolling, and will it damage it for cast- 
ing?— S.N. 

Answer. You can use this rod for trolling, but 
I suggest that you get a steel rod shortener for 20 
cents and take no chances with a good rod. Slip 
out the first joint, put the shortener in the grip, the 
second joint in the shortener, and you have a fine 
short trolling rod. 

Question. What size line should be used in fly- 
casting with a 10-foot rod? — L. M. V. 

Answer. For a 10- foot rod with plenty of back- 
bone use size E; for rods under 10 feet and light, 
use size F. 

Question, (i) What is the correct length of 
rod for use in bait casting; and (2) is there any rule 
to follow as to length of rod in comparison with the 
height of the user? 

Answer, (i) Length of rod is a matter of 
personal preference. I use a five-foot rod, and feel 
like a lost brother with a six-footer — better make 
it between five and six feet. Whip a couple different 
length rods over your shoulder a few times and you 
will find the one best suited to yourself in that way. 
(2) All bunk; get a rod that you " feel" is right, 
be you a shorty or a six-footer. 



226 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

Question. What is the correct way to assemble 
a rod? — F. B. L. 

Answer. Work toward the butt in assembling 
the rod; first assemble the tip and first joint, the butt 
joint comes last; take the rod apart just the reverse. 
If you value your rod don't twist the ferrules either 
in assembling or disjointing it. 

Question. I have difficulty in jointing and un- 
jointing my rod; should the ferrules be filed down? 
— D. K. 

Answer. Try a little oil on the ferrules before 
jointing; if they still stick take the finest emery dust 
and reduce the male ferrule by rubbing very lightly. 
Be very careful as emery dust cuts German silver 
very rapidly. Be sure the ferrules need reducing 
before you do it. 

Question. ( i ) Can I get a fairly good fly-rod 
for $15 to $20; and (2) what is the average length 
of the fly-rod best suited for general use ? — R. M. S. 

Answer. You can get a very good rod of split 
bamboo for $15, and with a few special fixings $20 
would give you an excellent one ; be careful in select- 
ing the rod. When you get in the expert class you 
can go higher. (2) Select a rod between nine and 
ten feet, matter of personal choice. 

Question. Outside of split-bamboo what are 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 227 

some good woods for one-piece casting rods? — A. 
G. F. 

Answer. Three good woods are lancewood, 
greenheart and bathabara. Lancewood is preferred 
by the majority that wish solid wood rods, while 
bathabara is the most costly. 

Question. What sized line should I use with a 
steel fly rod. I am using a size E now? — J. D. 

Answer. For steel fly-casting rod I suggest that 
you try a size C line as better results will be had with 
the heavier line. A lot of difficulty found in casting 
with a steel fly rod is caused by the use of too light a 
line. 

Question. ( 1 ) What is the test strength of an 
enameled line size E and size F also? (2) Tell 
me the best method of drying these lines? — F. M. 

Answer, (i) E size tests 28 pounds. F tests 
22 pounds. (2) Run the line through a cloth held 
in the hand; this is sufficient to dry enameled lines; 
also occasionally dress the line with deer fat, it will 
work better and last longer. 

Question. How do numbers and letters com- 
pare as regards the size of enameled lines? — A. 
C.J. 

Answer. No. 6 — H, No. 5 — G, No. 4 — F, 
No. 3 — E, No. 2 — D, No. 1 — C. 



228 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

Question. What do you think of the Water- 
man Porto outboard motor, and do you think that 
they scare fish? — Q. T. W. 

Answer. The Waterman Porto is a good motor, 
can be run at very low trolling speed, and slow 
enough for casting. The reversing propeller comes 
in mighty handy, and the entire motor is built right. 
For river and lake it is sure a fine tool. Weighs 68 
pounds, which makes it easy to portage. Govern- 
ment tests of motors have shown that fish are not 
frightened by motors. Of course in a lake turned 
over to pleasure craft fishing falls off, but the out- 
board motor used right will make your fishing more 
pleasant and you cover far more fishing water. 

Question. What is the difference in the spinning 
of the Standard, Slim Eli and Idaho Hildebrandt 
spinners? — C. G. S. 

Answer. The Slim Eli is a narrow spinner that 
spins close to the shank; Standard spins medium 
close, and the Idaho spins wide. Standard best for 
ordinary fishing, Idaho for roily waters, Slim Eli, 
clear waters. 

Question. Do you think the Nighthawk lumi- 
nous compass is a compass one can rely on in the 
woods? I am going to northern Canada and want 
to carry the right thing in this line. — P. L. F. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 229 

Answer. A Nighthawk luminous compass is a 
good instrument and it has the added advantage of 
being readable at night, which is some useful if you 
are toting a pack and gun. By all means get the 
wrist compass; it's always where you can see it. 

Question. What is the best way to tell good 
from bad gut for leaders? — Hal G. 

Answer. Good quality gut is round, hard and 
smooth; poorer gut is flat in places and frays easily. 
Look out for flat places; often this can only be dis- 
covered by rolling between the fingers. A flat spot 
means a weak leader. For hardness of the leader, 
test it by biting on it. 

Question. When is the best time for trolling 
and where? 

Answer. Best trolling time, morning, evening 
and after dark. Troll close to edge of rushes, lily 
pads and weeds, or over sunken weed formation, over 
and along sand bars and off the shelving bottoms be- 
tween shallow and deep water, or where light and 
dark waters seem to meet. 

Question. What kind of a gun would you sug- 
gest to take on a canoe trip ? — J. T. D. 

Answer. Either a light-caliber repeater or a 
Marbles Game-getter. I carry a Game-getter on 



230 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

river and general fishing trips; it is small and com- 
pact and has a barrel for .22-caliber and .44-caliber 
round ball or shot. This gives you a small gun good 
for emergencies, shot good for birds and duck, and 
.22 caliber for squirrels, etc. This gun is built for 
men and is not a toy. 

Question. What is the best way to carry live 
frogs for bait from the city to your fishing waters? 

— w. s. 

Answer. Carry the frogs in a small bait basket 
and don't put any wet grass or moss in the basket. 
Although frogs come from wet, marshy places, they 
live better in captivity in a dry place. Frogs live 
very well piled five or six on top of each other. 
After reaching fishing waters, wet them thoroughly 
two or three times a day. 

Question. Can you give me a formula for 
coloring leaders a mist color? — J. L. P. 

Answer. Take one dram of logwood and six 
grains of copperas, boil in a pint of water. Soak 
the leaders in this solution for five minutes or until 
the tint your desire is secured. 

Question. Could I use the formula of one-half 
fluid ounce of formaldehyde to a pint of water for 
preserving pork rind the same as minnows? — J. 
E. H. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 231 

Answer. Yes; this is a good formula for pork 
rind as well as minnows. 



Question. In your answer to G. B. K. last week 
in reference to bait casting you say, " Let them have 
the line after they strike, and wait until they stop 
before striking." While such an authority as Jim 
Heddon writes in his " Hints on Bait Casting " to 
" strike and strike quick as soon as the fish strikes 
the bait." How about it? — T. L. K. 

Answer. By reading the query of G. B. K. you 
will find he refers to live bait. If you strike when 
a bass or pike first hits your live bait, all you'll have 
for your trouble will be a minnow torn in half or 
gone entirely. You got to let 'em take it on the first 
run and wait till they stop to gorge; they then turn 
the bait around and swallow it head first. That's 
the time to strike. Jim Heddon writes entirely in 
his " Hints on Bait Casting " on the casting of ar- 
tificial baits, and with these you must strike at once 
when the fish strikes. Under the circumstances we 
are both right, Old Man. 

Question. Will you give me formula for water- 
proofing a light canvas or drill tent? — Camper. 

Answer. Take equal parts of alum and sugar- 
of-lead. A quart or more of each to several buckets 
of tepid water. Soak well in above solution, turn- 



232 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

ing often and spread out to dry. This is water and 
fire proof. 

Question. How do you use a light to get frogs 
at night? — F. D. 

Answer. Locate a frog pond or a shore along 
a stream and either wade or back a boat along the 
shore. The frogs are generally on logs, windfalls 
or in the shore weeds or grasses, flash your light 
along these places and you can grab the frog before 
he thinks of hopping, the light blinds them for 20 
to 40 seconds. While getting the little ones for 
bait, slip a few big ones in the bag for breakfast. 

Question. I have noticed many stoves ad- 
vocated for camping trips, are they useful and what 
do you know of the Moats Gasoline Stoves? — C. K. 

Answer. Stoves are O. K. for a camp and for 
the fellow who is not much for cooking at a camp- 
fire they are a life saver. The Moats Gasoline 
Stove is without doubt the king of camp stoves, you 
can light it in a thirty-mile gale and it burns steadily. 
It is very compact, folding up into small space and 
for an all-round camp stove with baker the Moats 
No. 1 Oven Stove is a dinger. I carried a No. 1 
on a canoe trip last fall and it was the handiest part 
of the entire kit. It can be set up in a minute and 
the spider will be sizzling the next minute, without 
any smoke in the eyes or wood to rustle. Carrying 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 233 

a Moats may be " agin " some of the ethics of the 
fellow who wants to rough it, but for mine I want 
to " smooth it " when I go into the woods. 

Question. Have you ever used a Grace Con- 
vertible Tent, if so what do you think of it for a 
party of two on a hike and fishing trip? — Camper. 

Answer. The Grace Tent is a tent that will 
stand the gaff, it weighs 8 pounds and is made of 
o-d waterproof drill and is equipped with insect 
proof ventilators. This tent was designed and in- 
vented by Dr. Grace after twenty-five years outdoor 
and military experience. Two can sleep well in it 
and at a pinch four can sleep in it. It is a good 
winter tent as well as summer, so arranged that the 
end can be taken off and a campfire built close up as 
it needs no guy ropes. It can be divided into a pack 
sack or used as a sleeping bag. As an all-round 
good tent that will stand up under hard usage and 
make good the Grace tent is a sure enough snug 
harbor. 

Question. How can I pickle and seal pork rind 
in July so it will be good to use through August and 
September? Do you consider it good bait for 
pickerel? — F. H. I. 

Answer. Take an old tin box and put a layer 
of salt in the bottom, roll your pork rind in salt and 
pack it in on top of the salt in the bottom of box. 
Sprinkle a little salt over it, put in the rest of your 



234 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

rind, covering the entire amount with salt, and your 
bait will keep indefinitely. (2) Pork rind on a 
weedless hook with a No. 3 spoon or tandem spin- 
ner makes a fine pickerel bait. Tie red yarn around 
the head and let the string ends hang down about 
as long as the rind. Some bait. 

Question. What is the Warmouth bass? — 
G. M. 

Answer. The Warmouth bass, called by some 
the google-eye redeye, and bream, is really a sunfish 
shaped very much like the rock bass. Grows to ten 
inches and prefers shallow ponds and lowland slug- 
gish streams, not very game and generally carries 
the flavor of the mud bottoms when used as food. 

Question. To settle a dispute can you tell me 
the surest way to identify the pickerel, pike and 
musky? — G. S. 

Answer. By comparison you will find the pick- 
erel has both cheeks and gill covers entirely scaled; 
the pike has scales on the cheeks and upper half only 
of the gill covers, while the musky has only the 
upper half of the cheeks and gill covers scaled. 
Many true pike are called pickerel. 

Question. Will you kindly give a formula for 
preserving minnows ? — F. J. D. 

Answer. For preserving minnows make a solu- 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 235 

tion of a half fluid ounce of formaldehyde to a pint 
of water. Put them in an airtight jar. 

Question. What length and width canoe would 
you advise for a three weeks' trip in Canadian 
waters, with rapids in rivers and some lakes and 
quite a few portages? — C. M. S. 

Answer. I suggest a straight-keeled canoe with 
a good tumble-home in which the width and flat 
floor are carried well into the bow and stern. This 
increases carrying capacity and buoyancy, adding to 
the seaworthiness for the crossing of lakes. Get a 
16-footer 13 to 14 inches deep and 30 to 36 inches 
wide, weight about 70 pounds. The Thompson 
canoe is a good rough-water worker on lakes and 
white water in rivers. 

Question. For lake fishing do you prefer a 
landing net or gaff? — D. K. M. 

Answer. I use a gaff at all times, except fly 
casting, when a landing net is a necessity. I use a 
Marbles clincher gaff on most fish. 

L. M. — To preserve a landing net, soak it in 
linseed oil, shake out all excess oil, stretch the net 
and dry it thoroughly. This will add to its life. 



THE CALL OF THE GRAN'DADDY BASS 

When de leetle buds are swellin' from de saps dat 

fill de tree, 
An' de Canuck goose ees honkin' from de balmy 

southern sea ; 
When de chinnooks heet de woodland from de 

passes on de coast, 
An' I sell de bonny fur-pelt to de Factor at de 

Post; 
Oh, I knaw de tarn ees comin' — when I get dat 

funnee feel — 
To untangle lines an' feesh-hooks from de tackle an' 

de reel. 

When de winter she ees sentenc' to de Nort' where 

she belong, 
An' de woods are rainbow color an' de matin' call 

ees strong; 
Eet ees den I packs de snaw-shoe, rolls de log-chain 

in a ball 
To de chanson half-breeds w'isle as dey mush to 

Montreal. 
Give me den de rod an' feesh-line, let me patch de 

birch canoe — 

Sacre Bleu! 
236 



The call of the water trails brings us close to old Mother Nature 
and the wonders over which she holds sway. The whispering winds 
through the tall pines ; the call of the loon off the stilled waters; the 
saucy defiant chirp of the red squirrel, all awaken an answering chord 
within the keen fellows who go forth to conquer. I can find just as 
much enjoyment in manipulating the spider, coffee pot and stew-pan over 
the evening campfire as I can in watching the game fins making their 
fight for freedom — but the real pleasure comes when one tries to con- 
vince his "pals" of the extraordinary size of the fish that got away. 



• - 



THE CALL OF THE GRAN'DADDY 237 

Dere's a small-mout' bass I've feeshed for, seence 
de Spring of Ninety-two! 



In de shallows I hav foun' heem, where de win'-falls 

spot de lac, 
In de rock-beds an' de peebles I have seen hes ebon 

back; 
I hav coax heem wid de pork-rind, wooden plug an' 

buck-tail spoon 
But he seem to keep as distant as de crazy diving 

loon. 
He's de Gran'pap of de Small-mout's from away 

before de war — 
He's de same ol' bass dat's fool me many t'ousan' 

tarns before ! 



Oh, de hair upon my forehead, she ees gettin' silver 

grey, 
While de han' she sometam tremble in a warnin' 

kin' of way. 
Den I knaw, by Gar, I'm trailin' to de limit of my 

boun's 
An' a step will tak me ovair to de Happy Huntin' 

Groun's, 
Where I'll trap de same ol' mush-rat; sell de fur 

for what she's wort' 
Cas' de same ol' line an' feesh-hooks dat I did down 

here on Eart' 



238 LAKE AND STREAM GAME F.SHING 

An' I'll start de struggle ovair in de same lac an' 
canoe ; 

Sacre Bleu! 
Wid de same ol' Bass I've feeshed for seence de 
Spring of Ninety-two ! 

— Albert Jay Cook. 



THE RAGGED LAND 

Were you ever marooned in the Ragged Land far 

out from the frontier lines, 
Where the wild wind sweeps from the Arctic Pole 

and soughs through the Norway pines? 
Have you watched the sky in a blue-bowled night 

as you lay on the close-packed sod 
And a star fell down from its place up there like a 

match from the hand of God? 
Have you heard the jeer of an idiot loon in a land 

of unearthly quiet, 
With the grub-pack down to a can of milk and the 

prospect of cones for diet? 
Has your soul been bared to the naked wind in the 

midst of a trackless wild — 
To the naked wind of the Ragged Land — like the 

soul of an artless child? 
Have you dreamed again in your office chair of a 

trail that you left behind; 
Of a song that the pine trees softly sing at the end 

of a long day's grind; 
Of the restful peace of primeval years in the hush 

of the balsam air, 
And a sun that crimsons the chopped-up edge of the 

tumbled mountains there? 
239 



240 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

In the canyoned murk of the city walls, with its 

masonry heaven-piled, 
Have you felt, with a bitter yearning, the breath of 

the utter wild? 
Do you curse the laws of a man-made life and the 

things that those laws demand, 
As you dream of a life that once was yours on the 

trails of the Ragged Land? 

— Albert Jay Cook. 



THE WILDERNESS LURE 

O whence the voice that lures me on to little lakes 
I know, 

Where flapping teal fly up at dawn and fringing 
balsams grow, 

Where forests rule the lonely land, unmarked, un- 
tamed, unmarred, 

And sentry-like the Norways stand majestic, silent 
guard? 

A voice that brings the frighted hush of deer among 

the pine, 
And whispers of the whip-like rush of bass upon 

the line. 
The Call is strong and once again I finger gun and 

rod 
And dream of covers where I've lain and trails that 

once I trod. 

You've heard the Call the Red Gods send on all the 

winds that blow; 
You've felt the lure, O Pal and Friend, that comes 

to those who know. 
241 



242 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

Come, answer it, as I have done among the lakes 

and vales; 
Come, answer it, with rod .md gun, O Comrade 

of the Trails! 

— Albert Jay Cook. 



THE SAME OLD STORY 

Ahga the caveman, a cripple, tinkered in flint and 

stone ; 
Painted the walls and the granite, gravened the 

great moose-bone; 
Made he the stone-age language, gave men the 

tongue they spoke — 
Wisely ruled Ahga, the cripple, the man that the 

Rock-Gods broke. 

Once in a hungry moment gazed he far off to the 

lake 
And clutching a morsel of mammoth, Ahga, the 

cripple, spake: 
"Living things roam in the waters! Why?" and 

he gazed again: 
" Each of them eateth the other — good they must 

be for men." 

Fashioned he bone in his cunning; best of his store 
he took; 

Plucked he from sharp rock and branches horse- 
hairs to string his hook 

Baited it wisely with liver — spoke to hungry 
throng : 

243 



244 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

" Follow me not, Neolithics, I come with the kill 
ere-long ! " 

Great was the day for Ahga, great the renown he 

gained; 
Fish by the bushel he brought them, still was his 

strong heart pained. 
" Ahga ! " the Cavemen shouted, " why do you sulk 

to-day?" 
And Ahga, the cripple, answered: "The biggest 

one got away! " 

— Albert Jay Cook. 



FISHING AT NIGHT 

Like fairy cakes, the silver pine 

Stand out against the moon 
And eery-voiced, the dim shore line 

Gives answer to the loon. 
A flashing fish breaks through 

The inky sheet we glide — 
A rod, a reel, a birch canoe 

And I am satisfied. 

Assassin night doth rule the sky 

The Heavens gleam no more, 
Yet still the gloom is penciled by 

The golden fire on shore. 
Deep hours must pass — till birth anew 

Gives dawn a fading bride — 
A rod, a reel, a birch canoe 

And I am satisfied. 

It seems as though, above, there might 
Be gathered whisp'ring souls 

To see, unseen, in pulsing night 
Their one-time fishing holes — 

245 



246 LAKE AND STREAM GAME FISHING 

Enough ! The Strike ! My waited cue ; 

And quietly we ride — 
A rod, a reel, a birch canoe 

And I am satisfied. 

— Albert Jay Cook. 



RUBAIYAT OF A FISHERMAN 



Life's a pond with wriggling humans filled, 
Each doomed to follow on the way that's willed. 
The Fates cast out the lure and angle for 
The young and old, the learned and unskilled. 

II 

I fling this little perch that mulled the needled hook 
Back in the lake to seek some quiet windfall nook; 
So do the Fates when Hope, perchance, has fled 
Fling back to those who wait, a soul they took. 

HI 

As do the gobbling sunfish herd round the angle- 
worm 

So do we mortals, for wealth and high position, 
squirm. 

Turn on the light, let's see him at his worst, 

What boots it — fish or man — each one's a germ. 

— Albert Jay Cook. 



247 



RAIN 

Thunder rolling softly, 
Thunder once again; 

Then it comes a-dripping 
Comes the gentle rain ! 

Rain! 
Rain in the coffee ! 
Rain in the jeans! 
Rain in the sugar ! 
Rain in the beans ! 

Rain! Rain! Rain! 

Through the pines and birches 
Faster than before 

Still it comes a-ripping 
'Till it makes you sore ! 

Rain! 
Rain in the elbows! 
Rain in the knees ! 
Morning and evening! 
Rain when you please! 

Rain! Rain! Rain! 

Sloppy, sodden, soaking, 
Life is full of pain — 
248 



RAIN 249 

What's the use of camping 
In the soggy rain? 

Rain! 
Rain in the bedding! 
Blankets and all ! 
Rain in the bacon! 
Rain ! — Rain ! — That's all! 
Rain! Rain! Rain! 

! — Albert Jay Cook. 



FALL FISHING 

Before the bracing wind that chafes the lake 
The deadened, swaying birches bend and break. 

Alone I man my boat and briskly go 
To quiet bays that now the guides forsake, 

And marvel at the splendors as I row. 
Above me, honking squadrons southward fly 
And autumn flaunts her plumage to the sky; 

The trees are like hussars upon parade 
Ere yet the slothful summer passes by 

And wafts a lazy kiss to him who stayed. 

The forest creatures feel the coming test 
And fill the hidden caches by their nest; 

The silver fish that flashes from his lair 
Has sensed the changing season like the rest 

And fain would taste the pungent fighting air. 
In such a way no gamy things endure 
I make the cast and jerk the gaudy lure, 

'Till comes the sudden swish — the lashing sign 
That tells me something's struck it, swift and sure - 

A frenzied water wild-cat on the line ! 

Ye men who crave the whip-like rush and feel 
Of mighty fish that spin the humming reel, 

250 



FALL FISHING 251 

Go not when sun-hot idle lakes are fanned 
By soothing winds that from the tropics steal 

To drowse the sharpened senses of the land; 
Go not, ye patient Waltons, 'til the day 
That autumn mints the leaves her brilliant way; 

'Til first ye see the grim white Artist, North, 
Has flicked his fingers on the things that stay — 

And then, my fellow-angler, go ye forth ! 

— Albert Jay Cook. 



THE CALL OF THE WILD 

When, like grimy dragons crawling, comes the city's 
darkness falling 

Do you feel the trails a-calling, do you hearken to 
a voice that brings a dream? 

Do you hear the pine-trees sighing when the south- 
east winds are dying 

And the cratered lakes are lying in their turquoise- 
painted bowls of silver cream? 

As the last mill's flame is leaping o'er a million 
toilers sleeping, 

Have you felt the lure a-creeping like a long for- 
gotten scrap of youthful sin? 

Do you yearn for hikes and sallies into balsam 
scented valleys, 

Through the virgin wildwood alleys, where the rod 
and reel and gun have never been? 

Just to meet God's open spaces and the cozy hidden 

places 
Where the flashing trout-stream races and you never 

need to make a second cast. 
252 



THE CALL OF THE WILD 253 

Just to roam the forest, dreaming, while the blue 

sky up there's beaming 
And the golden sun is gleaming as if every ray of 

lightness were the last. 

Do you feel your slow pulse dancing when the spring- 
time comes, enhancing 

The virile and free romancing of the voices that the 
foursome earth-winds blow? 

Oh, you never will outgrow it, for your dreaming 
glances show it, 

And they've got you, Pal, I know it, so you'd better 
pack the duffle-bag and go ! 

— Albert Jay Cook. 



THE END 



